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THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2021
Oregon sets sights on sequestration
Capturing carbon to
achieve climate goals
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
CONDON — Tom Rietmann drove his
pickup truck off the gravel road and onto a rug-
ged, grassy hilltop known as Devils Butte in
rural Eastern Oregon.
The area, along Highway 206 between
Wasco and Condon, is mostly empty save for
wheat fi elds, cattle and the occasional aban-
doned schoolhouse or old family cemetery —
conjuring images of early settlers and home-
steaders on the American frontier.
As its name might suggest, farming atop
Devils Butte is no easy feat. The land is par-
ticularly vulnerable to erosion, Rietmann
said, with soil washing away in the rain and
snowmelt.
Rietmann began working full time on his
family’s ranch in 1981. Since then, he has
adopted several practices aimed at controlling
soil erosion, such as reducing tillage, rotational
grazing and replanting native vegetation.
The goal at fi rst was simply to keep the soil
on the property, but over time Rietmann said
he has come to recognize added benefi ts for
the environment.
One advantage is the increased ability to
capture and store carbon from the atmosphere.
“If a plant is green and growing, it’s not
only converting carbon dioxide to oxygen, but
it’s also growing roots,” Rietmann said. “So
the roots are putting carbon into the soil.”
Oregon offi cials are looking to farmers like
Rietmann to increase soil carbon sequestration
on farms and forests as a way to help the state
reach its climate goals, reducing greenhouse
gas emissions by 45% below 1990 levels by
2035 and 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.
Commission proposal
Last year, Gov. Kate Brown signed Exec-
utive Order 20-04 outlining the state’s climate
objectives and directing agencies to come up
with plans for how to get there.
As part of the order, the Oregon Global
Warming Commission has developed a natu-
ral and working lands proposal that calls for
increasing carbon sequestration by 5 million
metric tons of carbon dioxide per year by 2030,
and 9 million metric tons per year by 2050.
Carbon sequestered in natural and working
lands across the U.S. reduced total greenhouse
gas emissions by 12% in 2019, according to
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Researchers estimate that sequestration
could be more than doubled annually by restor-
ing natural habitats and modifying practices on
farms, forests and rangelands.
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Tom Reitmann, of Reitmann Ranch, looks over Devils Butte on his Eastern Oregon property.
The Oregon commission’s proposal calls
for the Legislature to establish and fund a
climate-smart agricultural program, though
what it will look like and how much money it
receives is yet to be determined.
State Sen. Michael Dembrow, a Portland
Democrat, is one of four lawmakers who serve
as non voting members of the commission. He
said the program will likely consist of both dol-
lars for research and training, as well as direct
payments to farmers.
A possible avenue could be funding the
Oregon Agricultural Heritage Program, Dem-
brow said. It was created by the Legislature in
2017 to preserve farmland across the state.
“I think that’s one of the key recommen-
dations from the report, that we get some
resources to that program,” Dembrow said.
“I’m hoping that’s an area where we could
fi nd something during the short session in
February.”
Paying for carbon sequestration has already
been ruled out in the Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality’s Climate Protection
Program.
That program — also developed under
Brown’s 2020 executive order — creates a
cap-and-trade model for Oregon, setting an
annual limit on greenhouse gas emissions that
gradually shrinks over time.
Regulated utilities and fuel suppliers can
purchase what are referred to as community
climate investments, or CCIs, under the pro-
gram that would pay for other projects aimed
at weaning Oregonians off fossil fuels.
CCIs could not pay for sequestration, how-
ever, since the program is geared more toward
increasing adoption of renewable energy,
according to the state Department of Environ-
mental Quality .
Jan Lee, the executive director of the Ore-
gon Association of Conservation Districts, said
excluding sequestration projects from the Cli-
mate Protection Program was a missed oppor-
tunity, especially in light of the Global Warm-
ing Commission’s proposal.
Instead, Lee said she favors funding the
Agricultural Heritage Program to accelerate
climate-smart farming. She said the Global
Warming Commission has discussed needing
$15 million to $20 million to get the program
started.
With 45 soil and water conservation dis-
tricts statewide, Lee said they could serve as
the local experts to whom growers turn for
advice.
“What we would do is have our people
trained, so they would know how to help peo-
ple in our districts apply carbon sequestration,”
she said.
A role to play
Megan Kemple, the co-director of the Ore-
gon Climate and Agriculture Network, said
farms can and should play a role in addressing
climate change.
“Reducing emissions alone isn’t suffi -
cient to address the climate crisis,” Kem-
ple said. “We also have to prioritize carbon
sequestration.”
Some of this work is already being done
around the state. A report by the American
Farmland Trust and the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service
shows Oregon farmers practiced cover crop-
ping on 100,908 acres in 2017, or 2.8% of the
approximately 3.6 million acres of available
cropland.
No-till farming was practiced on nearly
41% of the available cropland, which is slightly
lower than the regional average of 41.4% but
higher than the national average of 37%.
To adopt these and other practices on a
wider level, Kemple said farmers need tech-
nical assistance, education and fi nancial
incentives.
Over the next few months, Kemple said
the network will be urging both the Legisla-
ture and governor’s offi ce to make funding
available.
At the federal level, the Agricultural Resil-
ience Act — part of the Biden administration’s
Build Back Better framework addressing cli-
mate change — would create a new soil health
grant program for states and tribes as part of
an eff ort to reach net-zero emissions by 2040.
Christian Gaston, the budget director for
Brown, said the governor is reviewing the
Global Warming Commission’s proposal. A
climate-smart agriculture program, Gaston
said, “would be a strong addition to the state’s
portfolio of climate work.”
Agriculture groups, including the Oregon
Farm Bureau, have expressed concerns about
the bevy of new climate policies coming out
of Salem, arguing they will lead to higher costs
and tighter margins for producers.
Mary Anne Cooper, the vice president of
public policy for the f arm b ureau, said the Cli-
mate Protection Plan will drive up the cost of
fuel, including diesel and natural gas.
As for carbon sequestration, Cooper said
the targets identifi ed by the Global Warming
Commission are “beyond ambitious.”
“I think they put too much on the agricul-
ture sector when we are already doing our
part,” Cooper said.
In written comments submitted to the
Department of Environmental Quality , Coo-
per stated Oregon has made signifi cant prog-
ress over recent decades in terms of improving
effi ciency. She cited Oregon State University
data that ranks Oregon 15th out of 50 states for
effi ciency, compared to 1960, when the state
ranked 46th.
Yet the Global Warming Commission
didn’t seem to acknowledge these gains when
soliciting input from the industry, Cooper said.
The f arm b ureau is also concerned that farm-
ers who are already implementing sequestra-
tion strategies will be left out of compensation.
“It’s like our sector has already run a mara-
thon,” she said.
Any programs put in place must be vol-
untary and incentive-based, Cooper said, and
not place additional regulatory burden on
producers.
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