U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree's Agriculture Resilience Act would incentivize and support farmers to address the climate crisis in the face of USDA inaction.
BY LISA HELDClimate, FARMING, Food Policy
Representative Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) introduced legislation today that would set a national goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions from the U.S. agriculture sector by 2040. The Agriculture Resilience Act also introduces sweeping changes to federal conservation and agriculture programs to reach that goal.
“It’s definitely the biggest, most comprehensive climate and agriculture bill that’s been introduced, just in terms of its sheer scope, addressing everything from research to conservation to energy to food waste,” said Ferd Hoefner, senior strategic advisor to the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC).
The bill’s approach overlaps significantly with Senator Cory Booker’s Climate Stewardship Act in its boosting of existing farm conservation programs, but instead of pairing agriculture with forestry and wetland conservation, it homes in on food production.
First, the Act lays out 12 goals to meet over the next 20 years and directs the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to develop a plan to reach them. In addition to net zero, the goals include restoring at least half of lost soil carbon, reducing greenhouse gas emissions from ruminants (i.e., cattle, sheep, and goats) by at least 50 percent, tripling on-farm renewable energy production, and reducing food waste by at least 75 percent. Hoefner, who also consulted on the legislation, called the goals “achievable but aggressive.”
Six subsequent sections address research, soil health, farmland preservation and farm viability, pasture-based livestock, on-farm renewable energy, and food loss and waste. When it comes to research, the bill would add climate change adaptation and mitigation to various existing programs as a priority focus. On soil health, many popular farm bill conservation programs get supercharged: Funding for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), for example, would more than quadruple by 2024. And some changes go beyond the farm, like establishing firm labeling standards for animal products making environmental claims such as grass fed.
One thing the Agriculture Resilience Act does not do is enact regulations, however. So while it could incentivize more sustainable practices, it’s unlikely it would result in any major, immediate shifts in production methods.
Typically, a bill of this kind is not introduced with the expectation that it will move forward intact. Instead, it offers a template for programs that can be incorporated into other legislative packages. Representative Pingree told Civil Eats that pieces of the Act may be used during the next appropriations cycle (when funding for programs gets allocated) or in the next farm bill. But her eye is mainly on the potential for “comprehensive climate legislation.”
The House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis is scheduled to publish policy recommendations for congressional climate action at th
