{"id":4737,"date":"2009-09-09T19:17:46","date_gmt":"2009-09-09T23:17:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ncdata.wpengine.com\/?p=4737"},"modified":"2021-04-01T20:09:58","modified_gmt":"2021-04-02T00:09:58","slug":"big-ags-free-ride-should-be-eliminated-from-cap-and-trade-bill-by-david-a-ridenour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2009\/09\/09\/big-ags-free-ride-should-be-eliminated-from-cap-and-trade-bill-by-david-a-ridenour\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Ag\u2019s Free Ride Should Be Eliminated from Cap-and-Trade Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

Farm belt congressmen who voted for the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill committed \u2013 to borrow from the New York Times<\/em>\u2019 Paul Krugman \u2013 a form of treason.\u00a0 It was treason against the agricultural communities they represent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sure, they got a few pay-offs for supporting the bill, including a provision designed to preserve the economically and environmentally-indefensible corn ethanol program.\u00a0 But they also planted the seeds of the U.S. agricultural sector\u2019s destruction.<\/span><\/p>\n

Led by Congressman Collin Peterson (D-MN), a group of farm state congressmen persuaded the bill\u2019s sponsors to include a provision blocking the Environmental Protection Agency from measuring the true carbon foot print of ethanol.<\/span><\/p>\n

The EPA wanted to count carbon emissions from changes in land use \u2013 such as clearing rainforests to produce food that American farmers used to grow before becoming so intoxicated by ethanol \u2013 as a cost of the fuel\u2019s production.<\/span><\/p>\n

Princeton\u2019s Tim Searchinger estimates that bio-fuels contribute nearly double the carbon as gasoline in their first 30-years of production.\u00a0 That\u2019s because it takes years to offset the enormous amounts of carbon released into the atmosphere when grasslands and forests are converted for ethanol-related agriculture.<\/span><\/p>\n

Had the EPA been allowed to implement its plan, it might have spelled doom for corn ethanol.\u00a0 By law, ethanol produced in plants built after 2007 must produce 20% less carbon than gasoline, not double the carbon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ethanol producers can\u2019t show they meet this target if they must count their entire <\/em>carbon contribution, so thanks to Peterson, they won\u2019t have to.\u00a0 I\u2019d like the same deal in reporting my income to the IRS, please.<\/span><\/p>\n

Increased carbon emissions are only one of the costs of the ethanol program.\u00a0 The CBO estimates that between April 2007 and April 2008, production of the bio-fuel accounted for 10%-15% of food inflation during the period, costing consumers between $5.5 and $8.8 billion.\u00a0 Other estimates put the costs much higher.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite higher costs \u2013 or perhaps because of them \u2013 the farm lobby applauded Peterson\u2019s efforts.<\/span><\/p>\n

The American Farm Bureau Federation, which continues to oppose the Waxman bill, heaped praise on Peterson for his \u201cstellar efforts\u201d to \u201cwin vital changes for America\u2019s farm and ranch families.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Since the Farm Bureau represents livestock producers as well as farmers, the group might have found something more appropriate to heap on the congressman.<\/span><\/p>\n

After all, if not for Peterson, the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill likely would have died in the House of Representatives.<\/span><\/p>\n

Peterson\u2019s \u201cstellar efforts\u201d gave farm state congressmen the political cover they needed to vote for the bill against their constituents\u2019 interests.\u00a0 Yes, they voted for the bill, but in a Kerryesque fashion, they can argue they were against it before they were for it.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Waxman-Markey climate change bill \u2013 or perhaps more aptly, economic<\/em> climate change bill \u2013 would be a disaster for American farmers.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the Heritage Foundation, higher energy costs resulting from the regulations would push farm incomes down by 28% by 2012, 60% by 2024, and 94% by 2050.\u00a0 Many farms and ranches, already operating on razor thin margins, would buy the proverbial farm.<\/span><\/p>\n

The damage wouldn\u2019t be limited to farmers, though.\u00a0 Heritage estimates that this energy rationing plan would destroy an average of 1.15 million jobs per year and cost a family of four an average $8.16 per day between 2012 and 2035.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hardest hit would be the poor and this may in part explain why African-Americans are particularly resistant to higher costs associated with the plan.\u00a0 Fifty-two percent of blacks are unwilling to pay anything more for either gasoline or electricity, according to a recent poll<\/a> by The National Center for Public Policy Research.<\/span><\/p>\n

Proponents had promised the plan\u2019s costs would be much more modest \u2013 less than the price of a postage stamp per day.\u00a0 This number is based on a CBO study that \u2013 remarkably \u2013 doesn\u2019t count lost income through unemployment or reduced hours as a cost.\u00a0 I\u2019d been wondering where Enron\u2019s creative accountants landed and now I have a pretty good idea.<\/span><\/p>\n

The farm lobby may think it won a free ride in the first round of the cap-and-trade debate.\u00a0 Instead, it advanced regulations that can devastate American agriculture one step closer to reality.<\/span><\/p>\n

When cap-and-trade causes fuel prices to soar, no ride will be free.<\/span><\/p>\n

David A. Ridenour<\/a> is vice president of\u00a0 the Washington, D.C.-based National Center for Public Policy Research.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Farm belt congressmen who voted for the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill committed \u2013 to borrow from the New York Times\u2019 Paul Krugman \u2013 a form of treason.\u00a0 It was treason against the agricultural communities they represent. Sure, they got a few pay-offs for supporting the bill,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,69,651],"tags":[451],"yoast_head":"\nBig Ag\u2019s Free Ride Should Be Eliminated from Cap-and-Trade Bill - The National Center<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2009\/09\/09\/big-ags-free-ride-should-be-eliminated-from-cap-and-trade-bill-by-david-a-ridenour\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Ridenour\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2009\/09\/09\/big-ags-free-ride-should-be-eliminated-from-cap-and-trade-bill-by-david-a-ridenour\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2009\/09\/09\/big-ags-free-ride-should-be-eliminated-from-cap-and-trade-bill-by-david-a-ridenour\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"David Ridenour\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/#\/schema\/person\/c89efb74544bedf18f820090ec92c477\"},\"headline\":\"Big Ag\u2019s Free Ride Should Be Eliminated from Cap-and-Trade Bill\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-09-09T23:17:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-02T00:09:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2009\/09\/09\/big-ags-free-ride-should-be-eliminated-from-cap-and-trade-bill-by-david-a-ridenour\/\"},\"wordCount\":727,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"National Policy Analysis #584\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Environment and Enterprise Institute\",\"Global Warming\",\"National Policy Analysis\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2009\/09\/09\/big-ags-free-ride-should-be-eliminated-from-cap-and-trade-bill-by-david-a-ridenour\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2009\/09\/09\/big-ags-free-ride-should-be-eliminated-from-cap-and-trade-bill-by-david-a-ridenour\/\",\"name\":\"Big Ag\u2019s Free Ride Should Be Eliminated from Cap-and-Trade Bill - 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