The oldest and most experienced environmentalists often aren’t lauded for their efforts to steward our planet. Farmers have been bettering our planet since before it was cool, and they have been improving their methods and prioritizing sustainability for centuries through natural solutions, such as the deployment of no-till crops and voluntary participation in carbon markets.
Farmers across the country and in our home state of Pennsylvania recognize they must adapt to and work to help mitigate climate change. Fortunately, many of the solutions are just beneath our feet, and many of the tools and technologies necessary for us to rise to the occasion are already being employed.
Even though they’re often vilified by the larger climate movement, farmers are key environmental stakeholders as the inventors of natural climate solutions or reducing carbon emissions by storing them in natural ecosystems such as forests or farmers’ soil. Thanks to innovation in agriculture technology, farmers are not only conserving resources, they’re also doing it while producing more food, feed, and fiber. Productivity relative to resource use for agriculture is up a whopping 287% in the United States since the 1940s.
This is something that isn’t talked about enough. U.S. producers are the shining star when it comes to resiliency and sustainability. Through natural solutions, U.S. producers are the answer to reducing global emissions, not the problem, as so many activists would have you believe.
Natural climate solutions are often defined as conservation, restoration, and improved land management actions that store carbon or reduce additional greenhouse gas emissions. Cover crops, for instance, are used by farmers to bolster soil quality in between harvest crops, but they importantly can sequester the equivalent of 12.8 million passenger vehicles’ emissions annually.
In fact, the Nature Conservancy estimates nature-based solutions could account for up to 37% of emissions reductions needed by 2030. Planting a trillion trees worldwide is not simply cost-effective compared to other climate-mitigation strategies; the carbon capture potential is absolutely massive. While conversations involving energy, transportation, and manufacturing are important, our planet’s natural resources hold an important key to fighting climate change.
In recent years, the climate change debate has significantly shifted. We’re no longer debating whether or not climate change is real — those days are over. We’re simply debating how best to address it. The conservative focus in this dialogue is empowering local stakeholders and incentivizing innovative solutions to the energy and environmental challenges we face. Instead of trusting an all-powerful federal government with our environment, we believe the public can drive natural climate solutions.
To mitigate climate change and bolster rural economies, we must engage and empower the original stewards of our land and give them the tools to expand upon the work they are already carrying out day to day. This means greater access to affordable technologies and proven land management practices to harness the carbon-reducing potential of our farms and ranches while increasing their bottom lines and economic competitiveness.
House Agriculture Committee Republicans recently introduced a slate of pro-innovation climate bills to provide just that: proposals that incentivize healthy soils, precision agriculture technology, healthy forests, and more public-private partnerships to fund, build upon, and advance proven climate-smart practices. All of these bills have one thing in common: They are designed to reduce our carbon footprint while increasing the productivity and economic competitiveness of our farms and rural communities.
This slate of legislation builds on the 2018 farm bill, the greenest farm bill ever, a bill that provides $6 billion per year for the successful voluntary, incentive-based programs that are helping our farmers implement new practices that sequester carbon, reduce emissions, and adopt more energy-efficient farming practices.
The U.S. led the world in emissions reductions from 2005 to 2018 and continues to be on the forefront of innovative technologies and clean energy. Embracing socialism or exponentially growing the size and scope of the federal government is not the pathway forward. Not only do natural solutions work, but also, with the right policies, they have the potential to solidify America’s role as a global leader in climate innovation. It’s a win-win for the climate and the rural economy.
Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson represents Pennsylvania’s 15th Congressional District in the House of Representatives and is the Republican leader of the House Agriculture Committee. Karly Matthews, a Pennsylvania native, is the communications director for the American Conservation Coalition, a nonprofit organization that advocates for limited-government, market-based environmental solutions.
