For me, the most reassuring President Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress was his assertion that:
“In this budget, we will…end direct payments to large agribusinesses that don’t need them.”
In light of the disappointing nomination of Tom Vilsack as Secretary of Agriculture, the President’s renewed promise to overhaul the subsidy system is reassuring. As stated in the President’s new budget, the proposed funding:
Supports the implementation of a $250,000 commodity program payment limit. The payment limit will help ensure that payments are made to those who most need them.
To achieve this goal, the administration plans to…
Reduce direct Payments. As part of an effort to transition large farms from direct payments provided to owners of base acres to increased income from revenue derived from emerging markets for environmental services, the President’s Budget phases out direct payments over three years to farmers with sales revenue of more than $500,000 annually. Presently, direct payments are made to even large producers regardless of crop prices, losses, or whether the land is still under production. The program was introduced in the 1996 Farm Bill as a temporary payment scheduled to expire, but was included in the 2002 and 2008 Farm Bills. The President wants to maintain a strong safety net for farm families and beginning farmers while encouraging fiscal responsibility. Large farmers are well positioned to replace those payments with alternate sources of income from emerging markets for environmental services, such as carbon sequestration, renewable energy production, and providing clean air, clean water, and wildlife habitat. USDA will increase its research and analytical capabilities and conduct Government-wide coordination activities to encourage the establishment of markets for these ecosystem services.
So it seems not only will the largest farms no longer be subsidized to grow commodity crops, but they’re being encouraged to focus on renewable energy and environmental protection.
Of course, the president‘s speech wasn’t all good news for agricultural and environmental policies. When discussing renewable and clean technologies, President Obama again asserted that:
And to support that innovation, we will invest fifteen billion dollars a year to develop technologies like wind power and solar power; advanced biofuels, clean coal, and more fuel-efficient cars and trucks built right here in America.
Clean coal is a fantasy, and promoting it as an environmental solution is absurd. Fortunately, the Coen Brothers have just released a short film that debunks the clean coal myth more skillfully than I ever could: