US DA has allocated 325 million to combat greenhouse gases
2022.12.12 14:08
US DA has allocated 325 million to combat greenhouse gases
Budrigannews.com – The United States Department of Agriculture announced on Monday that it would award an additional $325 million in funding to smaller-scale greenhouse gas emission reduction projects, bringing its annual investment in climate-friendly farming to more than $3 billion.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the initiatives undertaken by the USDA are aimed at reducing the roughly 10% of annual emissions generated by farming in the United States as part of a broader objective of the Biden administration to reduce emissions across the entire economy.
According to Reuters, the program’s primary objective is to enable more farmers to serve the expanding consumer market for sustainably produced food.
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He stated, “We want the market to recognize and value [that work] and we want to encourage farmers and producers to accelerate the use of these practices.”
71 projects that will assist small and historically underserved farmers in adopting and evaluating lower-emission farming practices will receive funding from the funds, which range from $250,000 to just under $5 million.
Black farmer associations, Native American tribes, and organizations serving women, veterans, and beginning farmers are among the funded groups.
The benefits of climate-friendly farming practices like crop rotation, solar panel installation in farm fields, and less fertilizer application will be monitored and verified in some of the projects. Others will offer technical support to farmers who want to learn new skills and practices.
The USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), a pool of funds provided by the U.S. Treasury to support the farm economy, will provide the project funding, as did the agency’s announcement in September of a $2.8 billion round of funding for 70 climate-friendly farm projects ranging from $5 million to $100 million.
According to a Politico report, Pennsylvania Republican representative G.T. Thompson, the incoming chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, has stated that he will audit the program and argued that USDA’s use of CCC money for the projects is outside of its authority. A request for confirmation of the report was not received by Thompson’s office.
According to Vilsack’s statement to Reuters, a potential audit does not concern him.
He stated, “We’re contributing to the creation of a market opportunity for farmers, which is precisely the purpose for which the CCC was designed.”
