Nov. 4: This afternoon, Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.), along with four other cosponsors, introduced agricultural offsets legislation in the Senate that shares many similarities to the Peterson amendment which was adopted during the climate debate in the House of Representatives in June.
“NCGA feels that the legislation introduced today is a positive step toward a well-crafted ag offsets program that is workable for farmers,” NCGA President Darrin Ihnen said. “While we continue to evaluate the impact of climate change legislation, there are many issues important to our growers that were included in this bill and we thank the Senators for their efforts.”
Items included in the agricultural offsets legislation are an exemption for agriculture from a greenhouse gas emissions cap, giving USDA primary authority to design and administer an offset program for agriculture and recognizing producers who have been practicing no-till and conservation tillage practices, regardless of when that practice began.
One area not included is the package is a provision to address the issue of international indirect land use change. This issue continues to be a top priority for NCGA and we are strongly urging senators to address this issue as the legislation moves forward.