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BlueMountainEagle.com
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Green New Deal calls for ag
to be ‘greenhouse gas free’
By Don Jenkins
EO Media Group
The Green New Deal intro-
duced last week by Democrats
in the U.S. House and Senate
does not propose banning cow
flatulence, but it does strike at
something that powers farm
production — diesel fuel.
The
14-page
resolu-
tion calls for agriculture to
be “greenhouse gas free” as
much as “technologically fea-
sible” in a decade.
Biodiesel could sharply
reduce emissions, especially if
it’s manufactured with renew-
able energy, but it’s far from
being ready to supplant all
diesel, said Don Scott, direc-
tor of sustainability for the
National Biodiesel Board, a
trade association for biofuels.
“We use a lot of diesel fuel,”
he said. “It would be extreme
to say we’re going to replace
all diesel with biodiesel.”
The resolution, introduced
by Rep. Alexandria Oca-
sio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen.
Edward Markey, D-Mass.,
outlines a “10-year national
mobilization” to make the
U.S. entirely powered by
zero-emission energy sources.
The resolution is co-spon-
sored by 67 House Demo-
crats and 11 Senate Demo-
crats, including Oregon Sens.
Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee,
a possible presidential candi-
date, endorses the resolution,
according to a spokeswoman.
A fact sheet provided to
National Public Radio by Oca-
sio-Cortez’s office acknowl-
edged that there would still be
greenhouse gas emissions in
10 years because “we aren’t
sure that we’ll be able to fully
get rid of farting cows and air-
planes that fast. ...”
R-CALF USA CEO Bill
Bullard said it was unreason-
able to link cows to climate
change. “If they believe it’s
manmade, it can’t be live-
stock,” said Bullard, whose
organization represents cattle
and sheep producers. “It’s just
beyond absurd.”
Though making no men-
tion of cows, the resolution is
a general statement on reor-
dering the U.S. economy,
including agriculture.
The government would
be “working collaboratively
with farmers and ranchers in
the U.S. to remove pollution
and greenhouse gas emissions
from the agricultural sector
as much as is technologically
feasible,” according to the
resolution.
“That would be a huge par-
adigm shift in every segment
of our industry,” Bullard said.
“I don’t know how you would
accomplish that in a 10-year
period of time. I don’t see this
A7
Eastern Oregon
industrial
development bill
gains traction
By Mateusz Perkowski
EO Media Group
Eagle file photo
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon
EO Media Group
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon
as a realistic goal.”
The U.S. Energy Informa-
tion Administration projects
that petroleum will still pro-
vide a majority of the energy
used in agriculture in 2050,
even with an increase in
renewable energy.
Diesel currently provides
two-thirds of the energy used
to power farm equipment,
according to a study by the
Diesel Technology Forum, an
association of diesel suppliers
and equipment manufacturers.
There is no cost-effective sub-
stitute to power heavy equip-
ment at slow speeds in remote
places, according to the study.
Diesel-powered
trucks,
trains and ships move 90 per-
cent of the nation’s freight,
according to the study.
The Green New Deal res-
olution didn’t propose any-
thing specific beyond support-
ing family farmers, protecting
the soil and “building a more
sustainable food system that
ensures universal access to
healthy food.”
Ocasio-Cortez said at a
news conference the reso-
lution wasn’t a bill, but pre-
sented a large vision to tran-
sition the U.S. into the future
and not be “dragged behind by
our past.”
“So when people say,
‘What about this?’ Or, ‘What
about that?’ The answer isn’t,
‘This is why it’s not in here.’
The answer is, ‘That is part of
the solution, too.’ So I hope
you all see that, too. I hope
you all see the hope and the
scale,” she said.
The National Farmers
Union issued a statement
“applauding” congressional
attention to climate change.
“Farmers Union mem-
bers understand the need for
action on climate change, and
they will be active in ensur-
ing farmers have the tools
and incentives they need to
both adapt to and help miti-
gate climate change,” stated
Rob Larew, senior vice pres-
ident of public policy and
communications.
Merkley and Wyden were
at the forefront in announcing
the Green New Deal. Besides
Ocasio-Cortez and Markey,
the Oregon senators were the
only ones to speak at the news
conference at the Capitol.
Merkley said the vision
presented in the Green New
Deal resolution would combat
income inequality and “cli-
mate chaos.”
“We know the damage
being done to agriculture, to
our farmers in America. We
know the damage being done
to our forests and our for-
est timber communities. We
know the damage being done
to our fisheries,” he said.
Wearing a white baseball
cap with “Oregon” printed
on it, Wyden said he will use
his position as the top-rank-
ing Democrat on the Senate
Finance Committee to push
the Green New Deal agenda.
“It’s my intention to work
with all these good people to
throw the dirty-energy tax rel-
ics of yesteryear into the gar-
bage can and work to put
clean energy front and cen-
ter for a healthier future for
Americans from sea to shin-
ing sea,” he said.
Efforts to obtain further
comment from Wyden and
Merkley on how the Green
New Deal could affect cattle
ranchers were unsuccessful.
Bullard wryly observed
that one animal might bene-
fit if agriculture must replace
diesel’s horsepower.
“It might pick up the horse
market,” he said.
A proposal to allow industrial development out-
side cities in 10 Eastern Oregon counties has passed
a key legislative committee without encountering
opposition from farm and conservation advocates.
Senate Bill 2 would allow each of the coun-
ties — Baker, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Lake, Mal-
heur, Sherman, Union, Wallowa and Wheeler — to
designate up to 10 sites totaling 50
acres outside urban growth bound-
aries for “industrial uses or other
employment uses.”
Each designation would be
based on an economic opportu-
nity analysis, and the development
could not occur on high-value
State Sen.
farmland or sage grouse habitat.
Cliff Bentz
The Senate Committee on Envi-
ronment and Natural Resources recommended the
bill for approval 3-1 during a Feb. 12 work session.
“It’s totally local control. If the local people
don’t want it, they don’t have to do it,” said Sen.
Bill Hansell, R-Athena, during an earlier public
hearing on the bill.
While SB 2 doesn’t solve all the land use prob-
lems facing Eastern Oregon, the proposal “recog-
nizes the incredible difference between Eastern
Oregon and the Willamette Valley,” where growth
is more robust, said Sen. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario.
The legislation aims to provide flexibility for
“very rural” parts of Oregon without harming the
state’s overall land use system, said Senate Presi-
dent Peter Courtney, D-Salem.
“I’ve heard about this and heard about this and
heard about this. One size does not fit all,” Court-
ney said.
Sen. Arnie Roblan, D-Coos Bay, said it’s
“remarkable” that groups with disparate interests
could reach a consensus on the proposal, even if
it doesn’t resolve every land use disagreement in
Eastern Oregon.
“We’ve been looking for the solution to every-
thing for 14 years, and we’ve gotten nowhere at
all,” he said.
While studying the issue, a workgroup that
crafted the proposal found rural counties often
didn’t have the planning staff or resources to guide
large-scale development through the existing land
use process, said Mary Kyle McCurdy, deputy
director of the 1,000 Friends of Oregon conserva-
tion group.
These rural areas also came across development
opportunities that weren’t an easy fit under current
land use laws and were too different to encompass
with one legislative proposal, McCurdy said.
Stakeholders reached an agreement on SB 2 “as
kind of a pilot project” that “no one loves but per-
haps we can all live with,” she said.
Members of the Oregon Farm Bureau disagreed
with the reasons for a lack of economic opportu-
nity in Eastern Oregon but appreciated that SB 2
was kept “limited in scope,” and the organization
is neutral on the bill, said Jonathan Sandau, a gov-
ernment affairs specialist with the group.
Once a county designates 50 acres for industrial
development under the bill, it cannot enlarge the
footprint without another legislative change or an
“exception” to Oregon’s land use goals under exist-
ing law.
The proposal will allow counties to demon-
strate the economic opportunities that are available
under more flexible land use rules, said Dave Hun-
nicutt, president of the Oregon Property Owners
Association.
“Under this bill, the max they’ll get is 50 acres,
and we’ll see where it goes from there,” he said.
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