Deal on climate change bill better for farmers, ethanol

The climate change bill - sometimes called 'cap and trade' - will move forward with a vote on Friday after House Agriculture Committee chairman Collin Peterson (D, Minnesota) and House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Henry Waxman (D, California) reached a deal yesterday.

The agreement does two things:

• It allows USDA to have oversight for agriculture carbon offset programs instead of the EPA. That's an important difference, especially since USDA and its research arms have a good understanding of farming today - and offices in rural communities across the country. Peterson noted: “The climate change bill will include a strong agriculture offset program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that will allow farmers, ranchers and forestland owners to participate fully in a market-based carbon offset program.”
  

• It addresses international indirect land use changes - with Waxman agreeing to ask EPA to commission a study on indirect land use and associated costs. Importantly, any method of counting those costs (should there be any) must be agreed to by both EPA and USDA. This is good news. Said Peterson: “This agreement also addresses concerns about international indirect land use provisions that unfairly restricted U.S. biofuels producers and exempts agriculture and forestry from the definition of a capped sector.”

Although the deal seems to put off any land use change guesstimates as part of the existing Renewable Fuels Standard, it does not alter California's plan to do so. California's Air Resources Board, however, has told its staff to form an expert panel on the land use issue, and ethanol groups are hoping to work with the panel to better the science and make their case. Perhaps this agreement in DC will help.

For some stories on the Peterson/Waxman deal: New York Times and Washington Post.