The House of Representatives today released legislation to fund the government through March 2025. The bill also includes a year-long extension of the 2018 Agriculture Innovation Act, known as the farm bill, plus $10 billion in additional aid for farmers and ranchers.
However, the House bill does not protect approximately $14 billion in climate-focused conservation funds from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) by including this money in the farm bill’s baseline funding. This leaves the funds at risk if the IRA is repealed, frustrating climate advocates including the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Below is a statement by Melissa Kaplan, senior manager of government affairs for the Food and Environment Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
“If Congress really wanted to make farmers more economically resilient while also investing in the stability of our food system, they should do two things: give farmers the tools to better withstand and recover from extreme weather and persuade the incoming administration not to start new trade wars.
“Extreme weather driven by fossil fuels and climate change along with farming practices that destroy our soil are leaving farmers vulnerable. The public instinctively understands this. Across the country, 80% of people support helping farmers proactively adapt and protect their land and crops against flooding and drought, rather than waiting and paying for losses after the fact.
“The climate-focused conservation funds included in the IRA help farmers make their operations more resilient, building buffers against extreme weather like droughts, floods and other stressors. Congress should protect the remaining climate-focused IRA funds to ensure they continue to make farmers more climate resilient.”