From the Hearthland Institute
A large coalition of agricultural groups has come forward to oppose the Waxman-Markey bill restricting carbon dioxide emissions.
In a July 14 opening statement at Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearings, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) noted he had received “letters sent by 120 agricultural groups opposing the Waxman-Markey bill.â€
Among the groups are the American Farm Bureau, Pork Producers Council, USA Rice Federation, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Chicken Council, Council of Farmer Cooperatives, American Meat Institute, National Association of Wheat Growers, and North American Millers Association.
Long-Term Costs Much Higher
Tracy Taylor Grondine, director of media relations for the American Farm Bureau Federation, strongly disagrees with Waxman-Markey supporters who cite a Congressional Budget Office report asserting the bill would cost the average U.S. household merely $175 per year in the year 2020.
“Most media outlets are only focused on the front-end effects of the climate bill,†Grondine explained. “In 2020, carbon reductions will only be starting and the industry will be receiving significant carbon credit giveaways. But by 2050, the 17 percent cut in agriculture emissions from 2005 levels is estimated to rise to 82 percent, and there will be no more credit giveaways. So, by 2050 that 5 percent hit will grow to something more like a 15 percent reduction in farm income.â€
Adam Basford, national affairs coordinator for the Florida Farm Bureau Federation, agrees the costs down the road will be much higher. “According to the EPA, the legislation would cost farmers $5 billion [initially] and by 2050 the cost would rise to $13 billion,†he said.
Using the initial numbers conceals the bill’s real impact, Grondine says.
“We can’t just highlight costs in the first 10 years. We must look further down the road to how this legislation will impact American households, farms, and ranches and the overall U.S. economy,†Grondine said.
Farmers Paying the Price
Raising consumer prices is actually the point of the bill, says Basford.
“The very essence of cap-and-trade is to increase prices so much that consumption, and therefore emissions, are reduced,†Basford explained. “Farm Bureau has continually said that any cap-and-trade legislation must make economic sense for agriculture. It must be structured in a way that the costs do not outweigh the benefits for family farms, rural communities, and the overall economy.
“The Florida Farm Bureau opposes this bill because it forces Florida’s farmers, consumers, and families to lose,†Basford explained. “They lose through increased electricity, fuel, and fertilizer costs—and eventually higher food prices.â€
Grondine said, “Farmers want to be a part of the climate change solution, but such a solution should not jeopardize their economic sustainability in the process, nor should it pave the way for additional economic burdens on American families.â€
The incovenient truth is that global warming did not start 100 years ago – it started 10,000 years ago when the last ice age came to a close. Our state Michigan was covered with a sheet of ice that was over 100 feet thick at the time. Obviously, that warming was not caused by man but by a natural cycle outside of our control. Therefore, even if we are in a significant global waming phase – which I doubt – there will not be anything we can do about it. It would be like trying to save the Titanic by issuing teaspoons for every passenger to bail out the water.
The truth is to not pass Waxman/Markley. The left seem to look at the farmers as the Rednecks of society. I come from a history or farming. The costs are enomous and the rewards slim to none and “Slim” left town years ago. Talk about food prices? Look at milk, corn etc. Wait until the farmer cannot continue in their endeavor to bring food to YOUR table. Then, and only then will the American Public wake up!!!
Uh, what is about DFL, the middle word being Farmer, you don’t understand? It is ot Farmers we think are rednecks, it is rednecks that we think are rednecks. When Republicans say they are for Farmers they really mean corporate farms.
You obviously have never met a real republican. A “rino” possibly but not a REAL one.
Robbie Boy, you never bailed hay, never picked rock, cleared fields did you city boy. Yes there are corporate farms. Ever run an 80 acre dairy farm with 36 head? I doubt that you know for what you speak! That’s why you can eat so cheap!!! Don’t get my Scot dander up when you know not what you speak. 80% of my friends are farmers, not large corporations! That’s what feeds you Boy! Suggest that you talk to a diary farmer that is suffering today!
Dairy farmers are suffering, as are many family farmers. Why? Because corporate middle-men are sucking them dry that’s why. Pauly Boy your self-righteousness and smugness is nauseating.
But once again you ignore my point- the F in DFL stands for something, unfortunately not as much as it used to or should, but it was never GOFP. Right? Right.
No, the F in DFL means nothing anymore! Tell my friends that!!
Cap-and-trade will devastate our economy and our way of life forever. I’m a truck driver. Diesel fuel is our 2nd biggest expense. The cost of diesel fuel will increase at least 88 cents per gallon according to the Congressional Budget Office. Our overall operating costs will increase 20-30%. These costs will have to be passed on to the consumer. The cost of everyday items we need, such as food, clothing, medicine, etc will increase sharply. Oh, and the gas in your car, we haul that too. That will increase
at least 77 cents per gallon according to the CBO. That can be found in a recent article in Land Line Magazine, along with the diesel fuel increase. This is all in the name of
the biggest lie ever perpetrated on the world, man-made global warming. Your energy bills will, as President Obama said in 2008, “necessarily skyrocket.” Not the $170
per year the EPA claims, but more like $1700-$3000, according to the Heritage Foundation. The debate in the Senate begins Tuesday. The number for the Senate is 202-224-3121. Tell them we don’t want cap-and-trade.
Another example of corporate influence on farming:
On November 3rd, there will be a Constitutional Amendment on the ballot in Ohio. This is no ordinary ballot initiative. Its very existence and marketing has been bought and paid for–to the tune of millions of dollars– by national and international agri-business corporations and their front groups, such as Pioneer Hi-Bred International (owned by DuPont and grantee of 100K to the effort),the National Pork Producers Council (113K), and the United Egg Producers (200K!).
(You can join the anti-Issue 2 Facebook Group and help stop this underhanded effort)
What would it do if passed? It would create a 13-member board, 10 appointed by the Governor of Ohio (and, shockingly, they could all be from the Agricultural Industrial Complex), who would have ABSOLUTE POWER over regulating all conditions on farms in Ohio. The legislature, Dept. of Agriculture, and the people need not apply. Only another Constitutional Amendment could overturn a decision handed down by what will become our very own 18th Century House of Lords in Ohio. And if it succeeds here, expect to see it on your state ballot next.
China just allowed us to export pork to them finally!. They are our biggest trade partner. American farmers have lost billions due to “swine” Flu which should simply be called H1N1. Look at your recent purchases at the market. Is it an “agriculture crisis.?” You are damn right you fool. My friends are going out of business!!!!. Yes, they are corporations,large ones as well as small, Robbie Boy. Do you know anything about a corporation or LLC’s structure? I highly doubt it. I think I will have Pork tonight!!!
Sorry but your comment makes no sense.
Your comment, except for the unfortunate naming of “swine flu” makes no sense.
The first tenant of fascism is Corporate owned governance. We are there. The industrial ag corps own the USDA and FDA, the Pharma criminals own the FDA and CDC, the criminal bankster cartel own the Treasury and the Fed…
And every worthless US politician has his hand out for corporate bribes… Dennis Kucinich excepted of course…
This is just more of the same. They have the same problem with Monsanto shills in Calif. Corporate ag intends to crush organic and small farmers to maximize profits. It is a war on you and me… but the average American always fails to realize that. Another example of big business squeezing out the small.
Tell that to a farmer trying to make a living.
He/she most likely already knows this.
Since the era of Ronald Reagan, 40th president of the United States, (1981-1989), the labor movement in America has slowly but inexorably been whittled away.
“Reaganomics”, the name for President Ronald Reagan’s supply-side economics, basically deregulated corporations and granted tax cuts for the rich.
The rest of the country suffered and still suffers. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs; millions are threatened with loss of their homes; millions have seen their retirement funds melt before their eyes; millions are threatened with loss of health care. As Americans on Main Street are being devastated, executives of bailed out banks continued to receive billions in bonuses.
The working class is in a state of paralysis today. Corporate America has smashed the unions, bought out Congress and the Executive Branch and rules supreme. President Barack Obama, a creature of the corporate oligarchy, carries out their orders. His betrayal of the people who elected him is painfully obvious.
But the country is in a fragile state. With two senseless and futile wars sapping our treasure and human resources for more than seven years and other wars continually threatening, the ruling elite faces an economic collapse.
Turning the nation into a militarized state seems the only way to keep it going.
With that famous phrase “military-industrial complex”, used for the first time on January 17, 1961, President Eisenhower warned, “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist…”
Capitalism is, again, facing its eternal contradiction.
You never change. Valium would be a nice cure.
Crazy thing is that Pioneer Hi-Bred seed supports Cap and Trade legislation. It’s the biggest seed company in the corn belt owned by DuPont, which is a member of US CAP–a group of companies trying to butter up the Obama administration in exchange for lucrative contracts. Farmers oppose cap and trade, but little do they know that with each bag of Pioneer seed they support a company that is lobbying for it.