Release No. 0289.00

by
Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Rich Rominger
Carbon: Exploring The Benefits to Farmers And Society
"What Next From The Federal Government?"
Des Moines, Iowa - August 31, 2000

       "Thank you very much. My thanks to those responsible for giving us this chance to get together and look at all angles of this complex subject - USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service here in Iowa, working closely with three great RC&D Councils ... Chariton Valley, Iowa Heartland, and Iowa Valley. I want to recognize the Iowa Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society for their work on this conference, as well as the many federal, state, and private sponsors.

       "A word of appreciation to NRCS Iowa for its national leadership in developing ways to quantify carbon stocks in agriculture. In Iowa's Chariton Valley, NRCS helped establish the nation's only switchgrass biomass production demonstration project.

        "A year ago, when President Clinton came to USDA to sign an Executive Order spurring development of bio-based technologies, he told the story of William Meriam Burton. Ninety years ago, in an old farmhouse overlooking Lake Michigan, Burton - a chemist with Standard Oil - figured out that the new contraption called the automobile was about to create a huge demand for petroleum products. Recognizing that he had to squeeze more power from every molecule of petroleum, he developed the first commercially successful process for cracking crude oil into gasoline, a process that more than doubled the potential yield of gasoline from crude oil. This helped paved the way for the automobile era, and demonstrated the power of science to change the rules that govern our world.

       "Right now, in this new century, we're struggling to meet a challenge that may have even greater potential to alter our world. In fact, President Clinton said that climate change may be the most formidable environmental challenge the world faces over the next 20 to 30 years. And whether we come at it from the perspective of biobased products -- generating goods from agricultural materials -- or carbon storage, we're again talking about the power of science. It will be key to progress in meeting our economic challenges, sustaining our prosperity, and easing the threat of global change.

       "Already, science is changing the way we think.

       "We're finding, for example, that the carbon cycle represents a great opportunity for agriculture to be part of the solution to global climate change.

       " The buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is indisputable. More debatable is how fast and how much this buildup will change the climate over time. For agriculture, one thing is certain: these emissions present potential risks and opportunities that could have significant consequences for farm production, prices, and income ...and ultimately for American food consumers.

        "In June, the Administration released the draft report of the National Assessment on Climate Change by the U.S. Global Change Research Program. This is the first such comprehensive effort by any country. For agriculture, the consensus is that production of many major crops will probably increase. While that overall conclusion may be good for consumers, that's not the whole story. Farmers in some regions may face more frequent droughts, more intense weather, and more weeds and pests. This could mean an increase in pesticide use with an environmental impact that could be substantial.

        "To better understand these possibilities, the Federal government is spending about $1.7 billion this year on global change, with USDA's work on the carbon cycle a key part of this effort. We see great opportunities for agriculture, and we're working with research partners across the country on agriculture's role in the carbon balance. We also see rough road ahead in international negotiations and convincing other governments that we need a comprehensive treatment of emissions and carbon removals from all sources and sinks.

        "These two points represent much of the federal government's activity in carbon management, and I'd like to take a few minutes to discuss them.

RESEARCH

        " The core of USDA's research is exploring agriculture's capability as a huge sink to absorb and store carbon. In some ways, agriculture's history as a net sink for carbon parallels the history of the moldboard plow.

       "In the first half of the 20^th century, intensive tillage - turning the soil by plowing - changed soil structure. Decomposing organic matter released carbon dioxide. As a result, soil carbon content in the central U.S. Corn Belt dropped almost by half. As the plow and intensive tillage gave way in the 1960s to a range of conservation practices, the carbon picture began to shift. By 1990, carbon in Corn Belt soils had come back to 61 percent of turn-of-the-century levels.

       "As new management strategies took hold, so did a growing understanding of soil carbon and its significance. Now we know that sequestering carbon in agricultural soils achieves a whole lot more than pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and cutting greenhouse gas concentrations. Carbon content is a top indicator of soil health and sustainability. By increasing soil organic content, we improve water holding capacity, fertility, and productivity. Soil organic carbon helps on a number of fronts -- resisting erosion, keeping nutrients and pesticides from washing into water bodies, reducing flooding. In short, there's a direct connection between soil carbon content and benefits to soil, water and air quality, on and off the farm.

       "And we want to know more. That's why USDA's Global Change Program is funded at $53 million for fiscal 2000, and we've asked for more funds for 2001 . Clarifying the science of climate change, understanding the unique concerns of constituents, and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions demand cooperation. We work closely with the White House Climate Change Task Force and the National Assessment on Climate Change and Variability. We're committed to working with Congress and with agriculture, forestry and conservation groups on domestic and international policy options.

        "And our Global Change Program Office keeps us coordinated throughout the department. Our new Director, Bill Hohenstein, is with me today. Bill, would you stand?

       "Bill's office works in tandem, for example, with our research arm. Fifty Agricultural Research Service scientists are cutting across national programs to study complex connections. They're studying microbes involved with carbon transformation, and the fertility effect of more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. They're working with NRCS to measure the link between greenhouse gases in soils and different tillage systems, and between management practices and carbon storage. They look at day-to-day methane and ammonia emissions from Southeast swine facilities, carbon storage in grazing lands under various forage management and livestock systems, and alternative policies for promoting carbon sequestration on ag lands.

       "USDA's NRCS is making critical investments in improving the cooperative soil survey databases to understand and measure soil carbon sinks. Among these investments: digitizing county level soil surveys ... updating state level soil maps ... adding soil carbon data for major agricultural regions. This will give us scientifically-grounded tools to inventory and assess carbon storage.

       "Our economic folks are weighing the costs and benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and sequestering carbon. Forest Service researchers examine the effect of global change on forest health and productivity. They're studying drought, ozone, fire, insects and disease. They're asking how the impact of global change on these factors ultimately affects the well-being, for example, of California conifer forests.

INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS

       "Our research efforts are already paying off. Next week, in Lyon, France, USDA researchers will present their findings on how to account for carbon at the latest international meeting of climate change negotiators.

       "They'll show that U.S. forests removed about 300 million tons of carbon from the atmosphere in 1997 -- equivalent to 17 percent of total U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases. Crop and grazing lands removed another 20 million tons of carbon that same year.

       "This story needs to be told. Our goal is to use these data to show the world that carbon sequestration in forests and agriculture soils can be measured and should be given credit as a means to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

       "Apart from next week's session in France, the U.S. is now in very difficult negotiations with other countries on how to treat forests and agriculture within the Kyoto Protocol.

       "It's our position that the Kyoto Protocol now addresses only a few limited land management practices, like afforestation and deforestation, and ignores the vast potential of improved forests, cropland, and grazing land management. Because we understand the critical relationship between forests, agriculture and climate change, we want their full inclusion in any agreement. The benefits will go well beyond global change to better soil, water and air quality.

       "The U.S. is pushing for comprehensive treatment of emissions and carbon removals from all human sources and sinks. We're rejecting approaches by other countries that include only a few specific practices. These approaches leave too many gaps. They ignore the heavy impact of poor land management practices on climate change worldwide. They ignore the beneficial actions of many countries to improve land management. And because they're incomplete, these partial accounting systems will be hard to measure and could well be inaccurate and misleading in measuring net emissions.

       "The broad-based approach we propose is scientifically sound. It provides the greatest long-term incentive to protect carbon already stored on forest and agricultural lands. It doesn't give problems a chance to happen. It prevents countries from selecting only activities that sequester carbon while ignoring actions resulting in emissions. On the practical side, our approach will be easier to measure and monitor, while offering the greatest flexibility and incentives for innovation.

CLIMATE CHANGE TECHNOLOGY AND BIOMASS

       "To balance the research side, we've requested a $24 million increase for fiscal 2001 for USDA's on-the-ground work, the Climate Change Technology Initiative. Our goal is to develop agricultural practices that will reduce agriculture's vulnerability to extreme conditions ... to conduct carbon sequestration demonstration and pilot projects ... and to support biomass energy and bio-based products.

       "Right now, we're working to achieve the President's goal of tripling America's use of bioenergy and bio-based products by 2010. Realizing this goal would generate as much as $20 billion a year in new income for farmers and rural communities, while cutting greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 100 million tons a year - the equivalent of taking more than 70 million cars off the road.

       "We've asked for a $46 million increase in our 2001 budget to promote the use of biobased products and bioenergy, up from $72 million this year.

This will boost investments in research and development, technical and financial assistance, and business and industry loans for cooperatives involved in processing or marketing biobased products.

        " Here in Iowa, the Chariton Valley Biomass Project is investigating switchgrass as an alternative and renewable fuel. This is a great example of making the raw material of tomorrow's economy, living, renewable resources - instead of fossil fuels that pollute the atmosphere and threaten to warm the planet.

       "Where we once used only a seed or kernel, and tossed away the rest ... now we're learning how to use entire plants. Microscopic cells are being put to work as tiny factories, converting crops and even waste into fuel and material - everything from paints and pharmaceuticals to new fibers. As the President said, we have it within our power to do our jobs today just as William Meriam Burton did with the petroleum molecule at the turn of the century. And the potential is just as historic .The economic benefits we could achieve are enormous - not just for farmers raising the raw material, but for the timber industry, chemical manufacturers, power companies, and small entrepreneurs. These technologies could help close the opportunity gap by bringing in new high-tech jobs to rural areas.

       "By substituting domestic renewable resources for fossil fuels we ease our growing dependence on foreign oil. That's important to our economy, our security, and our environment. We can help developing countries meet their needs for energy in ways that improve the global environment and stabilize economies. And the bottom line - we work toward meeting the challenge of climate change.

       "There's no question that we need partnership - government, industries of all sizes, agriculture, business, the private sector. The government must help lead these

fledgling bio-industries, a goal of the President's Executive Order last year. The President also formed a Cabinet-level council, co-chaired by USDA and the Department of Energy, to help bring bio-based technologies from farms, forests, and labs to the marketplace. Congress demonstrated its support by passing similar legislation sponsored by Senators Lugar and Harkin.

       "And USDA is doing its part. Secretary Glickman has set up a Biobased Products and Bioenergy Coordination Council headed by Under Secretary Miley Gonzalez. Our researchers are working with industry on biobased products -- everything from biodegradable lubricants made from oil seeds ... to a lightweight concrete made from starch.

       "We're offering guidelines for creating a "Biobased Product List" for federal procurement officers. The idea is to encourage government agencies to "buy green," to use vendors that generate products from agricultural materials. Last year, Secretary Glickman announced the purchase of 20,000 gallons of biodiesel fuel for the USDA vehicle fleet. That makes us the first-ever Cabinet agency to authorize such a mass shipment. This year we've already used over three times that much.

        "And just last month, USDA published a proposed rule to allow the Commodity Credit Corporation to pay incentives to processors who increase their bioenergy production. We have $150 million available in each of the next two years to operate this program.

       "These biomass initiatives, like our work on the carbon cycle, are dynamic, ongoing examples of the Administration's sustainable growth philosophy - the conviction that economic growth and environmental stewardship are fully compatible and must work together as we move into the new century. Senator Harkin's proposed Conservation Security Program and a similar Administration proposal in this year's budget would complement these activities by paying producers with good farm conservation plans for their stewardship.

       "Producers like these, and the initiatives underway on bioenergy and the carbon cycle, point up agriculture as part of the solution to global change. We're on the early edge of these issues. This is a time of speculation, uncertainty, and a time for breakthroughs in our knowledge and understanding. Although the questions are still out there - how farm production decisions, conservation practices, and government policy can work together, these complex relationships have great potential for a triple win: for production agriculture, for climate change, and global health and prosperity. Thank you."

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