WASHINGTON – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the Department of Agriculture will invest $300 million through President Joe Biden’s Investing in America agenda to improve measurement, monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration in climate-smart agriculture and forestry.
The USDA will:
- Establish and advance a Soil Carbon Monitoring and Research Network.
- Establish and advance a Greenhouse Gas Research Network.
- Improve models and tools for assessing greenhouse gas outcomes.
- Improve Natural Resources Conservation Service conservation practice standards.
- Strengthen the Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Assessment Program.
Scott Faber, EWG’s senior vice president for government affairs, issued the following statement:
Agriculture accounts for a large – and growing – share of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. We need to increase our investment and make the right investments in stewardship practices that reduce nitrous oxide and methane emissions, or agriculture will soon become the nation’s leading source of greenhouse gas emissions.
Today’s announcement will help the USDA and farmers make better decisions about which practices work and which do not.
For too long, we have squandered USDA conservation funds on practices that do not reduce emissions – and even those that increase greenhouse gas emissions. EWG’s groundbreaking analysis has shown most USDA conservation spending is doing far too little to reduce emissions.
Today’s announcement is an important step in the right direction. But the USDA should not wait to make climate change a top priority for programs like Conservation Stewardship Program and Conservation Reserve Program.
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The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action.
