Alliance suggests pilot projects for carbon bank
build a “durable foundation” for a carbon bank with long-term, bipartisan congres- sional support, andhelpUSDAbuildconfi- dence inhowtoverify the climatebenefits delivered by specific practices and man- agement approaches. “This approach will lay essential build- ingblocks for avoluntarycarbonbank that createsopportunities for all producersand landowners toparticipate inrapidlydevel- opingvoluntaryprivatemarketsand lever- agesprivate investment inagricultural and forestry climate solutions,” FACA said in releasing its recommendationsMonday.
As USDA develops a carbon bank, the alliance said, “it must protect all existing funding for farmbill conservation and in- suranceprograms, and itmust ensure that a USDA-led carbon bank doesn’t under- mine voluntary privatemarkets.” FACAsaid it isalsoworkingonaddition- al, in-depthtaxcreditpolicyrecommenda- tions tohelpensure farmers, ranchers and forest ownershave the tools and resources needed to contribute to climate solutions, and to benefit fromdoing so. Toreadthealliance’sfullcarbonbankrec- ommendations,seeagclimatealliance.com.
Calling forpolicies thatachieve thehigh- est adoptionof appropriate, climate-smart practices on the greatest number of acres to sequester carbon, reduce greenhouse gasemissionsandbuildclimate resilience, a coalition of agricultural and environ- mental organizations recommends that theU.S. Department of Agriculture lay the foundation for a potential carbonbank by first developing a series of pilot projects. The Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance submitted a proposal to USDA for how the agencymight leada voluntary carbon bank in ways that would help re- duce barriers to participation by farmers and landowners. AndrewWalmsley, a congressional re- lations director for the American Farm Bureau Federation, said the carbon bank idea “has gotten the most attention and has a lot of conversation across (Capitol) Hill and across the countryside.” Walmsley said he hoped the FACA pro- posal addresses “some of the questions that folksmight be having.” “We hope this is an opportunity to start continuingtodriveprogress inthisspacefor allowingUSDA to start identifying some of thesebarrierstoparticipationinprivatemar- kets,andidentifyandtrytoaddressanychal- lengesthatareoutthereforfarmers,”hesaid. AFBF is one of four founding FACA members, along with the Environmental DefenseFund,NationalCouncil of Farmer CooperativesandNationalFarmersUnion. TheCaliforniaFarmBureau is alsoamong alliancemembers. The pilot projects FACA recommended would focus on: • Increasing adoption of climate-smart practices that reduce, directly capture or sequester greenhousegas emissions, and/ or increase climate resilience. FACA said projects should employ “critical climate infrastructure” to increase the capacity of farmers, ranchers and forest owners to adapt to climate change, while ensuring food and economic security. •Removingbarriersandmaking it easier for farmers, ranchers and landowners to adopt these practices. • Developing “consistent and credible State acts to stop emerald ash borer To prevent introduction of the em- erald ash borer into California, the state Department of Food and Agriculture has imposed a state quarantine. First detected inMichigan in 2002, the emerald ash borer has now spread to 35 states.CDFAsaid theEAB“isnot yet estab- lished inCalifornia.” An exotic beetle native to Asia, the EAB cankillashtrees.CDFAsaiditalsothreatens olives,becausethepest “hasbeenshownin experimental settings to infest olive trees.” The quarantine prohibits entry into California of the emerald ash borer and host plants originating from any area where an EAB infestation exists.
criteria” toaccount for the carbonseques- tration and greenhouse gas reduction benefits of climate-smart agriculture and forestry projects and practices. • Providing equitable opportunities for minority, socially disadvantaged and small-scale producers. The alliance said information gained from the pilot projects would help USDA
We have a new crop of materials for the Worker Protection Standard.
Protect your workers from pesticide exposure with the WPS. We have a bushelful of materials: brochures, posters and more.
To learn everything that applies, go to EPA.gov/pesticide-worker-safety
May 5, 2021 Ag Alert 11
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