Legislation

H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (Climate Change Bill) was introduced in May and is expected to be voted on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives this week. Currently there is a push to vote on the legislation either Friday or Saturday of this week (June 26th or 27th).

Farm Bureau policy does not support this Bill. Some of the difficulties Farm Bureau has with the bill is as follows:

The costs of this legislation simply outweigh the benefits for agriculture. On average, 65 percent of farmers’ operating costs are fuel, electricity, fertilizer, and chemicals so any increase in these costs will devastate farm budgets.
Some, but not all farmers will have the opportunity to participate in an offset program. An offset program allows farmers to be paid for installing wind mills or methane digesters on their farm. In recent discussions no-till was not included in the offset program.
There are no international agreements. China, India and other countries that compete with the U.S. are not required to meet the same costly emission reductions as U.S. companies putting us at an economic disadvantage.

There have been weeks of negotiations and some improvements have been made, but the legislation will still hurt farmers. Overall, agriculture is largely left out of the legislation, but indirectly every farm will experience a dramatic increase in the basic cost of operation.

The legislation contains four titles:

Title 1: Clean Energy

The title increases renewable fuels used to generate electricity establishes by establishing a Renewable Electricity Standard of 20% by 2020 (20% of electrical generation must come from renewable fuels); Carbon Capture and Sequestration; Clean Transportation; and Smart Grid issues.

Title 2: Energy Efficiency

This title increases energy efficiency in buildings (building codes required to increase energy efficiency standards by 50% by 2016) ; increases lighting and appliance efficiency; transportation efficiency (non-road vehicle and motor emission standards), utility energy efficiency, and industrial energy efficiency.

Title 3: Reducing Global Warming (Safe Climate Act)

The title would provide for the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) by adding a new Title VII to the Clean Air Act. It would implement greenhouse gas reductions through a cap and trade program. To achieve reductions it would cap emissions and gradually reduce the emissions cap. Businesses unable to meet the cap would have the opportunity to purchase offset credits from entities that are able to sequester carbon (reduce GHG). Agriculture is not specifically included in the offset program.

Title 4: Transitioning to a Clean Energy Economy

This title provides rebates to industries that suffer losses as a result of entities moving to other countries as a result of this legislation, or that suffer losses resulting from imports from other countries that do not have the same or similar carbon costs. This title primarily applies to manufacturing and industrial sectors.

Details of the legislation can be found at http://energycommerce.house.gov/ or directly at http://www.eenews.net/public/25/11457/features/documents/2009/06/23/document_daily_03.pdf

Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)

The 2007 Energy legislation included an RFS. The RFS is a biofuels mandate broken down into the following categories.

The current RFS includes several schedules for biofuels: conventional, advanced, cellulosic and alternative diesel.

The conventional biofuels RFS schedule begins at 9 billion gallons in 2008, increases to 15 billion gallons in 2015 and includes only corn starch-based ethanol.
The advanced biofuels schedule begins at 0.6 billion gallons in 2009 increasing to 21 billion gallons in 2022. The advanced biofuels schedule is further divided between cellulose and biodiesel. Any other renewable fuels will fall into the advanced schedule.
- The cellulosic biofuels schedule begins at 0.1 billion gallons in 2010 and increases to 16 billion gallons in 2022.
- The alternative diesel schedule begins at 0.5 billion gallons in 2009, and concludes at 3 billion in 2022.

[ American Farm Bureau Federation ]
Copyrights, Disclosures & Disclaimers


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State Legislation Search Michigan Legislation Energy and Climate Change Legislation Legislation H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (Climate Change Bill) was introduced in May and is expected to be voted on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives this week. Currently there is a push to vote on the legislation either Friday or Saturday of this week (June 26th or 27th). Farm Bureau policy does not support this Bill. Some of the difficulties Farm Bureau has with the bill is as follows: The costs of this legislation simply outweigh the benefits for agriculture. On average, 65 percent of farmers’ operating costs are fuel, electricity, fertilizer, and chemicals so any increase in these costs will devastate farm budgets. Some, but not all farmers will have the opportunity to participate in an offset program. An offset program allows farmers to be paid for installing wind mills or methane digesters on their farm. In recent discussions no-till was not included in the offset program. There are no international agreements. China, India and other countries that compete with the U.S. are not required to meet the same costly emission reductions as U.S. companies putting us at an economic disadvantage. There have been weeks of negotiations and some improvements have been made, but the legislation will still hurt farmers. Overall, agriculture is largely left out of the legislation, but indirectly every farm will experience a dramatic increase in the basic cost of operation. The legislation contains four titles: Title 1: Clean Energy The title increases renewable fuels used to generate electricity establishes by establishing a Renewable Electricity Standard of 20% by 2020 (20% of electrical generation must come from renewable fuels); Carbon Capture and Sequestration; Clean Transportation; and Smart Grid issues. Title 2: Energy Efficiency This title increases energy efficiency in buildings (building codes required to increase energy efficiency standards by 50% by 2016) ; increases lighting and appliance efficiency; transportation efficiency (non-road vehicle and motor emission standards), utility energy efficiency, and industrial energy efficiency. Title 3: Reducing Global Warming (Safe Climate Act) The title would provide for the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) by adding a new Title VII to the Clean Air Act. It would implement greenhouse gas reductions through a cap and trade program. To achieve reductions it would cap emissions and gradually reduce the emissions cap. Businesses unable to meet the cap would have the opportunity to purchase offset credits from entities that are able to sequester carbon (reduce GHG). Agriculture is not specifically included in the offset program. Title 4: Transitioning to a Clean Energy Economy This title provides rebates to industries that suffer losses as a result of entities moving to other countries as a result of this legislation, or that suffer losses resulting from imports from other countries that do not have the same or similar carbon costs. This title primarily applies to manufacturing and industrial sectors. Details of the legislation can be found at http://energycommerce.house.gov/ or directly at http://www.eenews.net/public/25/11457/features/documents/2009/06/23/document_daily_03.pdf Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) The 2007 Energy legislation included an RFS. The RFS is a biofuels mandate broken down into the following categories. The current RFS includes several schedules for biofuels: conventional, advanced, cellulosic and alternative diesel. The conventional biofuels RFS schedule begins at 9 billion gallons in 2008, increases to 15 billion gallons in 2015 and includes only corn starch-based ethanol. The advanced biofuels schedule begins at 0.6 billion gallons in 2009 increasing to 21 billion gallons in 2022. The advanced biofuels schedule is further divided between cellulose and biodiesel. Any other renewable fuels will fall into the advanced schedule. The cellulosic biofuels schedule begins at 0.1 billion gallons in 2010 and increases to 16 billion gallons in 2022. The alternative diesel schedule begins at 0.5 billion gallons in 2009, and concludes at 3 billion in 2022. [ American Farm Bureau Federation ] Copyrights, Disclosures & Disclaimers

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