Fax: 402-476-8859, Cell: 402-580-8815

john@nebraskafarmersunion.org

or Graham Christensen Cell: 402-217-5217

graham@nebraskafarmersunion.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 29, 2009

Farmers Union Encourages Rural Citizens To Take Part In Climate Change Discussions

Lincoln, NE - Due to recent events, Farmers Union is ramping up its efforts to inform farmers, ranchers, and rural people on Climate Change Legislation. "You are either at the table for this debate or you're on the menu," National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson recently told farmers in Kansas. "We want to be at the table."

Production agriculture is being impacted by a chain reaction of climate change events. It started when the Supreme Court issued a directive to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make a determination on whether or not the rising levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are a threat to public health. In response, EPA made a determination that rising levels of GHG emissions are a threat to public health.

In response to the EPA determination, Congress must now pass its own emission reduction regulatory system, or the EPA will move forward on its own. NEFU President John Hansen said, “That would not likely be in the best interests of agriculture. We prefer that Congress designate USDA as the federal agency responsible for the oversight of carbon reduction policies, and that agriculture be given the appropriate and positive role it deserves.”

“Given all the carbon reduction options under consideration, we firmly believe that the cap-and-trade approach is the most flexible market based way to obtain true emission reductions, support ag based renewable energy production, and provide production agriculture the most opportunity to own the economic benefits from reducing GHG emissions and sequestering carbon,” said Hansen.

National Farmers Union has adopted guidelines if agriculture is to fully benefit from climate change legislation:

· The U.S. Department of Agriculture determine the parameters, promulgate regulations and serve as the administrator of an agricultural and forestry offset program, not the EPA;

· Early actors be recognized and allowed eligibility under a mandated cap and trade system;

· The use of domestic agricultural offsets not be artificially limited;

· Establish and freeze an activity baseline for offset project types;

· Provide the agriculture sector a percentage of emission allocations;

· Base carbon sequestration rates upon science; and

· Allow producers to “stack” credits.

As of now, production agriculture is not likely to be required to have emission regulations, including the “cow tax”. EPA estimates that agriculture and forestry are responsible for only 7 % of total U.S. GHG emissions, but can generate up to 25% of total annual U.S.GHG emission reductions through improved conservation and sequestration techniques such as Continuous No-Till, Rangeland Management, Seeding New Grasses, Afforestation Projects, and Methane Capture.

Well over 2 million acres of Nebraska land is currently sequestering carbon by implementing improved conservation techniques through participation with the Chicago Climate Exchange’s (CCX) voluntary cap-and-trade program. Farmers Union alone estimates they have over 1.2 million acres in their carbon credit program. The most recent language from the House Energy and Commerce Committee does not address agriculture specifically. “That means that production agriculture needs to contact their Congressman and Senators and weigh in on this critical issue,” said Graham Christensen, NEFU Public Affairs Director. “If we do not want EPA calling the shots for ag on carbon emissions, production agriculture needs to get positively engaged with our public officials.”

For more information, call Nebraska Farmers Union at 402-476-8815, or visit the Farmers Union website at www.nfu.org and use the “Take Action” hot button that sends you to your elected officials. Also, for more information on carbon sequestration, visit the Chicago Climate Exchange at www.chicagoclimateexchange.com or the Nebraska Farmers Union website at www.nebraskafarmersunion.org .