USDA Budget

USDA 2009 Budget

63% of the USDA budget goes to nutrition programs.

Chewing Well

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS212878+07-May-2009+PRN20090507

Help in Understanding Cap and Trade in the Energy Bill

http://www.salon.com/env/feature/2009/07/10/robert_stavins_interview/

Pricing

An interesting New Yorker article on pricing in our Internet era.

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2009/07/06/090706crbo_books_gladwell?currentPage=all

It opens the discussion for the economy of new ecosystem service credits….credits represent environmental ’stuff’…and our society has a scarcity of the environmental ’stuff’ we need to restore Earth’s atmosphere. What is the best model to reap the greatest ’social willingness’ to participate in credit markets?

Doom and Gloom

An article about the politics and science of climate change and James Lovelock.

http://www.alternet.org/environment/141081/the_dark_side_of_climate_change%3A_it%27s_already_too_late%2C_cap_and_trade_is_a_scam%2C_and_only_the_few_will_survive/?page=1

Some Comments from Michael Pollan

From an interview with Michael Pollan:

* At least 20 percent of all fossil fuels go to agriculture, much of that in the form of synthetic fertilizer, Pollan noted. The nitrous oxide given off by such fertilizer “is 300 times more heat-trapping than carbon dioxide,” the greenhouse gas that gets the most press.

* President Obama “has shown that he gets it,” but “there’s a long way from a leader you elect getting it and him doing anything about it.” Obama needs to realize that he’s “not going to get anywhere” on his energy or health care initiatives without addressing the problems of the food system and the American diet.

* Michelle Obama, with her organic garden at the White House and her public pronouncements on food, could potentially “change the conversation at the Good Housekeeping level.” She is “building a consensus for reform” that could be enacted “maybe in a second term.”

* Noting the influence of the food lobby on the government, he noted a recent Youtube video of a hearing on the federal School Lunch Program that was “packed with industry lobbyists.” Indeed, there were many more industry lobbyists than anyone else at the hearing.

* Farmland, particularly that near urban areas, should be considered “as precious as wetlands” if we have any hope of developing local food systems.

* Building such local systems is “not that hard to do.” One solution: legislation to compel government buyers of food (for schools, prisons, food programs, etc.) to buy locally, even if only at the margins. A 2 percent or 3 percent mandate would cause “an instant revival of local agriculture.”

* Decentralization of the food system would prevent many national or global outbreaks of food-borne diseases. When single meat-grinding operations, or single lettuce-washing operations, feed millions of people, outbreaks become global fast.

The Agriculture Lobby

It is not unusual for me to read journalistic articles and come away wondering ‘who the h…. are they talking about’. I’ve attached one of those articles from The Washington Post.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/25/AR2009062504133.html?sub=AR

I also read some polling this morning that says 75 percent of the American public thinks we need to act on climate change legislation and over 50 percent are in favor of the legislation even if it adds $10 per month to their energy bill.

It also seems obvious that lobbying -in the case of the energy bill…. agricultural lobbying – potentially troubles the legislative process. What could be a sincere debate between legislators, between legislators and their constituents (informing the process) becomes a ‘paid’ debate between legislators and ‘constituent representatives’. In the case of the energy bill, we end up with compromises that are not only ineffective but do not even represent ‘the will of the people’.

The Wall Street Journal

Below is a link to a recent Wall Street Journal article on climate change science. From their perspective, significantly more scientists are becoming skeptical of climate change.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124597505076157449.html

USDA to Oversee Carbon Offset Program in Energy Bill

The House Ag Committee has won a major argument on who is to administer the offset program in the new energy bill.

http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2009/06/24/24climatewire-farm-groups-prevail-as-house-climate-bill-pu-24287.html

Global Climate Change Impacts in the U. S.

http://downloads.globalchange.gov/usimpacts/pdfs/climate-impacts-report.pdf