Climate Change; Animal Agriculture; Sen. Chambliss Blocks Nomination; Sec. Vilsack; and
Ag Prices
Climate Change
Bloomberg writers Lorraine
Woellert and Simon Lomax reported yesterday that,
“U.S. House Democrats cheered when they won a vote to impose the nation’s first
limits on greenhouse-gas emissions. Senate Democrats didn’t join the
party.
“‘They don’t have my vote yet,’ said Democratic Senator Sherrod
Brown of Ohio.
‘In the Senate this bill will not pass unless Midwestern Democratic
senators support it in large numbers.’
“The hard-won 219-212 vote on
June 26 to move a climate bill through the House was just a first step on a
difficult legislative path. Several climate measures are being crafted
in the Senate, where the regional and philosophical differences that dogged the
House measure are even more sharply defined.”
The Bloomberg article added that, “Climate-change legislation is a top
priority of President Barack Obama, who has asked Congress to pass a bill
before December’s United Nations climate talks
in Copenhagen.
In his weekend
radio address, Obama said the House plan would transform the nation’s
economy and create millions of jobs. Today, Obama said he is confident
the Senate will follow in the House’s footsteps.
“‘I am confident that they, too, will choose to move this country
forward,’ Obama said in Washington,
where he and Energy Secretary Steven Chu set new efficiency standards for
lamps.” [A video replay of President Obama’s comments from yesterday is available
here (9:28)].
The Bloomberg authors explained that, “Long before the House vote,
work began on how to get a bill through the Senate. In March, Chu,
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson and other Obama
administration officials dined at the home of Senate Foreign Relations
Committee Chairman John Kerry of Massachusetts.
The group pondered how to rally Senate support for a climate bill while
preserving its mandate to focus on environmentally friendly alternative energy
sources such as cellulosic biomass and nuclear power.
“Even so, broad Senate support for cap-and-trade legislation has yet
to materialize.”
Yesterday’s article indicated that, “Even with Obama’s backing, ‘it’s going
to be very tough,’ Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee
Chairman Tom Harkin of Iowa
said in an interview.
“Harkin, Brown and their Midwestern and industrial-state colleagues are
concerned that a cap-and-trade system would raise energy costs on
consumers, including farmers, while forcing U.S. companies to comply with
stricter environmental standards than their overseas competitors. Yet any effort to weaken environmental mandates risks losing
support of senators such as Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent.”
And with respect to American leadership on the climate issue, James
Kanter reported yesterday at the Green Inc. Blog
(The New York Times) that, “Many environmental advocates have called the recent
passage of a climate bill through the United States Congress a landmark
achievement in the struggle to address climate change.
“But to some Europeans, the United States still appears to be
taking baby steps.
“Andreas Carlgren,
the Swedish minister for the environment, told journalists on Friday in Brussels that passage of the Waxman-Markey
bill would be significant, but added that American emissions
reduction targets still risked falling far short of what would be needed to
reach a global deal at United Nations negotiations in December in Copenhagen.”
Animal Agriculture- Focus on Ohio
Recall that Bob
Meyer reported late last week at Brownfield that, “The Humane Society of
the United States has made no secret Ohio is one of the next states targeted
for their effort to ban the use of calf crates, sow crates and battery cages.
“The Ohio State Legislature has made a move to head HSUS off,
passing a proposed constitutional amendment which would create a 13-member Ohio Livestock Care
Standards Board. That board would develop best-practice standards for
the confinement of animals. The State Director of Agriculture would chair the
group made up of the State Veterinarian, a college agricultural dean, a county
humane society member, two consumer representatives, a food safety expert and
farmers. The rules and standards would be enforced by the Ohio Department of
Agriculture.”
On yesterday’s
AgriTalk radio program, host Mike Adams discussed
this development in much greater detail with Jack Fisher, the Executive Vice
President of the Ohio Farm Bureau.
To listen to this portion of yesterday’s AgriTalk
program with Mike Adams, just
click here (MP3-10:00).
The discussion provides background on important issues that are facing Ohio farmers and the
implications these recent developments in the Buckeye state could have for
agricultural producers across the country.
Meanwhile, Rod
Smith reported late last week at FeedStuffs
Online that, “Two states, Michigan and Ohio, are considering
legislation to keep animal care and well-being in the hands of the two states
rather than the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).
“The legislation has bipartisan support.
“In Michigan, the legislation would establish the Michigan
Agriculture Commission and Michigan Agriculture Department the sole authority
for regulation of livestock and poultry health and welfare; it would also
establish science-based standards for animal care that producers must implement
by 2020, establish an animal care advisory council to keep the standards
updated and establish a third-party auditing system to make sure the standards
are in place.”
Mr. Smith explained that, “The action responds to the HSUS-led ballot
initiative in California last year that was adopted by California voters and specifies
that livestock and poultry should be housed according to HSUS standards, rather
than those supported by animal ethicists and scientists.
“HSUS chief executive officer and president Wayne Pacelle said the Ohio
legislation ‘provokes us’ to take a similar initiative to the Ohio ballot next year.”
Senator Chambliss Blocks Nomination
Alexander
Bolton reported on Sunday at The Hill Online that, “Sen. Saxby
Chambliss (R-Ga.) has blocked President Obama’s
candidate for regulation czar, Harvard law professor Cass Sunstein, because
Sunstein has argued that animals should have the right to sue humans in court.
“Obama
has picked Sunstein, his adviser and longtime friend, to head the Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs, an office that has power to review and assess all draft
regulations proposed within the administration.”
The article indicated that, “But Chambliss worries that Sunstein’s innovative legal views may someday lead to a
farmer having to defend himself in court against a lawsuit filed on behalf of
his chickens or pigs.
“Chambliss told The Hill that he has blocked Sunstein’s
nomination because the law professor ‘has said that animals ought to have the
right to sue folks.’”
Mr. Bolton went on to report that, “Indeed, in his 2004 book, Animal Rights:
Current Debates and New Directions, Sunstein wrote: ‘I will suggest that
animals should be permitted to bring suit, with human beings as their
representatives, to prevent violations of current law.’
“More specifically, he wrote: ‘Laws designed to protect animals against
cruelty and abuse should be amended or interpreted to give a private cause of
action against those who violate them, so as to allow private people to
supplement the efforts of public prosecutors.’
“Chambliss said he is also concerned about Sunstein’s
potential impact on ‘a number of other issues relative to agriculture.’”
Sunday’s Hill article added that, “Sunstein’s
nomination cleared the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
with ease in May. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) cast the
only vote against him.
“But various farming and ranching interests, including the American
Farm Bureau Federation, have raised concerns about Sunstein. Several have
contacted Republican farm-state senators to raise concern over Sunstein’s academic writings.”
“Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), a member of the Agriculture Committee, met with
Sunstein earlier this month and said that Sunstein had provided assurance that
he would not promote onerous regulations for farmers,” the article noted.
With respect to committee
consideration of Mr. Sunstein’s nomination in
May, the issue of animal rights and hunting did come up. To listen to an
exchange on these issues between Susan Collins (R-Maine), the Homeland Security
and Gov. Affairs Committee Ranking Member, and Mr. Sunstien,
just
click here (FarmPolicy.com audio-MP3-about five minutes).
Secretary Vilsack
The perspective and views of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on a variety
of current issues impacting agriculture have been noted in recent news items
over the past couple of days.
Sec. Vilsack- Food Security
Reuters writer Mark
Weinraub reported yesterday that, “The United States will
shift its emphasis in the fight against global hunger from giving emergency aid
to helping countries produce more of their own food, U.S. Agriculture Secretary
Tom Vilsack said on Monday.
“Under the new approach, the United States will focus on providing
expertise and training to boost agricultural productivity abroad, Vilsack said
in a speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. [A complete audio replay
of the Sec.’s speech is available
here].
“‘It is a more comprehensive, holistic view of food security that focuses on
the notion that we want to make food more available, we want to make it
accessible and we want to make sure that it is properly used,’ Vilsack said.
“‘If we can help countries become more productive themselves then they will
be in a better position to feed their own people,’ he said.”
Yesterday’s Reuters article added that, “Vilsack did not provide
details about how the new approach would be funded. He said he and Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton plan to meet 28 African agriculture ministers in coming
months to discuss their new approach.
“President Barack Obama has said his administration will ask Congress to
double funding for agricultural development aid to $1 billion by 2010.”
A summary of Sec. Vilsack’s comments from
yesterday was also included in yesterday’s Commodity
News For Tomorrow report, a complimentary daily
commodity publication provided by CME Group in partnership with Dow Jones
Newswires. The Commodity News report noted that, “Also during the
breakfast speech, Vilsack discussed last year’s food crisis and soaring prices,
dismissing the role of ethanol. The main causes were energy prices, weather
patterns and changing diets, he said.
“‘If it was the need for and demand for biofuels,
one wonders why the price of food hasn’t gone down recently,’ Vilsack
said.
“After the speech, Vilsack again voiced support for an increase in the
ethanol blend rate to 15%, up from 10%, which is currently being considered by the
Environmental Protection Agency.
“‘I don’t know what the percentage will be, but I’m hopeful it will be
raised,’ Vilsack said. ‘I think it will send an important message to the
industry.’”
Sec. Vilsack- Climate Change
The Commodity News summary added that, “Vilsack also voiced support
for the climate change bill that passed the U.S. House last week. He said the
bill is just a first step but is better than doing nothing. It includes a
cap-and-trade provision that would allow farmers to trade carbon offsets.
“‘When agriculture is 7%-10% of greenhouse emissions and can be 20%-25% of
the solution, I like that in terms of opportunity,’ he said.”
Also on the climate bill, Andrew Duffelmeyer reported over the weekend at
IowaPolitics.com that, “U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said Saturday
evening that the U.S. House’s approval of a climate change bill this week might
have been ‘one of the most important votes in the last 100 years.’
“‘It is a vote about the future,’ Vilsack said. ‘It is a vote about
redefining the economy of this country. It is a vote about creating
real jobs here in America
that can support families and help create the middle class and support the
middle class. It was a vote about a brighter, more compelling future for rural America and it
was a vote that was a close vote.’”
Sec. Vilsack- Speculation Legislation- Biofuels
Reuters news reported yesterday that, “Congress
is eyeing ways to make sure speculative trading helps commodity markets rather
than distorting pricing signals, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in
a Reuters Television interview Monday.
“‘There are concerns,’ Vilsack said, noting he has spoken about the issue
with Tom Harkin, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.
“‘I suspect that there will probably be an effort to make sure when there is
trading that takes place on the market, that it’s trading that actually assists
the market, doesn’t hurt the market, creates a robust trading scheme so that we
get a good pricing signal,’ Vilsack said.”
Yesterday’s article added that, “Grain futures markets are bracing
for more government regulation after a U.S. Senate probe
blamed index funds for overinflating wheat prices last year.
“Vilsack toured the Chicago Board of Trade on Monday with executives from
parent company CME Group Inc, the world’s largest derivatives exchange, which
has said speculators were not responsible for price volatility.”
And on the biofuels issue, yesterday’s Reuters
article explained that, “The expansion of biofuel
production over the past few years also has been blamed for driving food prices
higher. Most of the biofuel consumed in the United States
is ethanol made from corn.
“But the Obama administration remains supportive of the biofuels industry to wean Americans from foreign oil,
Vilsack told Reuters.
“‘The President has been very, very clear about this. He wants the biofuel industry to take hold in this country. He wants us
to break our addiction to foreign oil. The only way we can do that is
by producing our own fuel and the biofuels industry
is the way we are going to do that,’ Vilsack said.
“‘Corn-based ethanol will continue to be part of the solution but by no
means the only way to produce ethanol.’”
Ag Prices
Yesterday, the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)
released its monthly Agricultural
Prices report.
In part, the NASS report stated that, “The corn price, at $3.93
per bushel, is down 4 cents from last month and $1.54 below June 2008
[related graph]…
The soybean price, at $11.60 per bushel, increased 90
cents from May but is $1.50 below June 2008 [related graph]…
and…The June all wheat price, at $5.69 per bushel, is down 15
cents from May and $1.93 below June 2008 [related graph].
Keith Good
FarmPolicy.com is a FREE
newsletter and is made possible by the generous support of McLeod, Watkinson & Miller-
Attorneys at Law.
To subscribe to the
FarmPolicy.com Email, send a note to, farmpolicy-on@list.farmpolicy.com.
