Reap what we sow: Washington's power brokers are farmers

Conspiracy theorists point to an assortment of groups they think secretly run the country — the gun lobby, Big Oil, the New World Order and even Yale's Skull and Bones society have all been fingered as the shadowy Illuminati who rule Washington. Yet the nation's real power brokers are in plain sight, amid amber waves of grain: the farmers.

The farm lobby demonstrates its awesome might every few years with the passage of a new farm bill, which invariably shovels billions in corporate welfare to agribusiness while damaging U.S. trade relationships and in many cases raising consumer prices for agricultural goods. But its power goes beyond the farm bill; it's hard to pass any legislation even tangentially related to farming without the support of a bipartisan bloc of lawmakers from Midwestern states. Which is why, when congressional Democrats bring their sweeping 1,200-page bill to fight climate change to the House floor Friday, the farm lobby's loamy thumbprints will be all over it.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 from Reps. Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif., and Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., is an ambitious effort to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. It would do this by capping emissions and allowing polluters to trade carbon credits; regulating cleaner fuels; investing in clean energy development; and boosting energy efficiency and renewable power.

What does that have to do with farming? Not a lot. Although agriculture plays a key role in global warming — clearing forest land for farms eliminates trees that absorb carbon, and livestock generate hefty emissions of climate-altering methane — the bill largely ignores such issues.

That didn't stop Rep. Collin C. Peterson, D-Minn., chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, from holding up the bill to wrest seed money for his constituents under the theory that heading off global catastrophe is only worthwhile if agribusiness can profit from it.

Peterson got what he wanted. Under the bill, polluters can buy “offsets,” meaning they can invest in carbon-reduction programs on farms or forests rather than cutting their own emissions.

Originally, the Environmental Protection Agency was to be in charge of regulating these offsets, because it's the agency with the scientific expertise to do the job. Instead, Peterson ensured that offsets will be governed by the industry-focused Department of Agriculture, with the EPA playing a secondary role; this will help bring rich payouts to farmers while probably reducing the offsets' effectiveness.

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