American Farm Bureau Federation - Climate Change

Climate Change

The Farm Bureau does not share the scientific opinion on climate change, with its official position being that "there is no generally agreed upon scientific assessment of the exact impact or extent of carbon emissions from human activities, their impact on past decades of warming or how they will affect future climate changes." The climate change session at its 2010 national meeting was entitled "Global Warming: A Red Hot Lie?" and featured climate change skeptic Christopher C. Horner. The Bureau is also opposed to climate change legislation, including the cap and trade measures under consideration in the U.S. Congress, arguing that such measures would increase fuel and fertilizer prices for farmers. At its 2010 national meeting, delegates unanimously approved a resolution that "strongly supports any legislative action that would suspend EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act." The Union of Concerned Scientists sent a letter to the group just prior to its meeting pointing out that its climate change position runs counter to that of every major scientific organization, and urged it to support action on climate on change. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has stated that farmers have more to gain from cap and trade than they stand to lose.