Agriculture and forestry in the US can absorb up to 13% of US greenhouse gas emissions according to Dennis Spisak of the Ohio Green Party. Unfortunately it also produces 6%. At the same time, there’s heavy resistance to fixing this whole air pollution, greenhouse gas problem from certain country folk who could stand to gain the most. Alas, it is human nature isn’t it?
THE WARNING SIGNS
If the drought in Alberta, the tornado in Ontario and the crazy 7 degree temperature changes in the Great Plains and Midwest are any indication, climate change is real. Cutting greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution is a good idea any way – it saves on energy, money and other costs which can go to surviving these changes.
THE ROAD BLOCKS
In another example of resistance, politicians supporting big farm businesses wrote the rules so that biofuel companies could get government money or support without any problems from the Environmental Protection Agency. Of course the science was ignored because all these politicians could see was the money.
As David Hawkins of the NRDC (Natural Resources Defence Council) said:
These amendments run the risk of creating a subprime market in both offsets and biofuels.
In addition, the cap and trade marketing system is more business as usual than really fixing things. Of course what it does is that it allows the already rich and powerful businesses to continue making lots of money while looking like they’re trying to fix things. It is unfortunate that even the Obama government continues down this road.
WHAT WILL BE LOST?
If even 5% of US power came from wind for example, farmers and countryside landowners could get $1.2 billion in money and 80,000 new jobs over 20 years. Considering the economic recession and loss of over 3.6 million jobs, every bit counts. And we definitely need to see nations like the US and Canada start shifting their thinking towards a green economy (Obama is thinking that way, alas Canada is behind).
If I were to make an educated guess based on population size, Canada could probably get a 10th of what the US gains in terms of 5% wind power. That’s still pretty significant.
Originally…
Progress Ohio | Dennis Spisak’s Blog: The Future For Farmers: “the one in 300 Americans employed in the $200 billion farming and forestry sector have tremendous opportunities in the shift to a clean energy economy. U.S. agricultural and forest lands sequester 903 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, absorbing 13 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, but U.S.agriculture also produces 413 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per year. If industrial agriculture engages in greener practices, then advanced biofuels, wind farms, biological sequestration and other sustainable practices can offer new jobs and billions of dollars of income to rural America. “
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