Vilsack Briefs Media on Climate Change Analysis
Glauber is testifying before House Ag subcommittee.
Jason Vance
Published: Dec 2, 2009
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack held a briefing Wednesday for the media on the just completed analysis of the current House climate legislation's impact on agriculture. He says that the data is positive.
"Even under conservative assumptions, climate change will be a net gain for agriculture," Vilsack said. "In the short term returns to agriculture from the offset markets are likely to outpace cost associated with higher prices. Over the medium and long term our analysis suggests the benefits from offsets will overwhelm any increased costs."
USDA Chief Economist Joe Glauber, who lead the analysis, is testifying in hearings before the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research this week that will consider the potential economic impacts of climate change legislation on the farm sector. On Thursday the hearing will focus on potential costs and benefits of agriculture offset proposals.
Vilsack also spoke about the upcoming meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark about climate change. He was very upbeat and positive about the meeting.
"I fully expect and anticipate that there will be progress made in Copenhagen," Vilsack said. "I believe that there is an opportunity for us, particularly in this meeting and in this setting, to raise the awareness of the importance of doing it right for agriculture, and the key role that agriculture can play in both mitigation and adaptation strategies in trying to adjust to climate change."
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