A Farm Bill to Help Farmers Weather Climate Change
Journal of Food Law and Policy, Vol. 14, No. 1, 2018
19 Pages Posted: 9 Aug 2018
See all articles by Peter Lehner
Peter Lehner
Earthjustice - Sustainable Food and Farming Program
Nathan Rosenberg
Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic; University of Arkansas School of Law
Date Written: July 24, 2018
The farm bill has an enormous impact on climate change. Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture account for almost 10 percent of total U.S. emissions and up to a quarter of all emissions globally. The farm bill encourages the use of carbon-intensive agricultural practices and products responsible for these emissions, but nonetheless offers several opportunities to quickly expand carbon sequestration, making it a critical piece of climate legislation. This essay will examine the climate impact of the farm bill, focusing on the commodity, conservation, and crop insurance programs. It then proposes politically feasible changes to these programs aimed at minimizing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and maximizing carbon storage. The essay concludes with an ambitious, long-term set of farm bill proposals designed to transform the U.S. agricultural sector into a carbon sink.
Keywords: food law & policy, agricultural law, environmental law, climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, farm bill, conservation, carbon sequestration, sustainable agriculture
Lehner, Peter and Rosenberg, Nathan, A Farm Bill to Help Farmers Weather Climate Change (July 24, 2018). Journal of Food Law and Policy, Vol. 14, No. 1, 2018, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3219464
Earthjustice - Sustainable Food and Farming Program ( email )
Nathan Rosenberg (Contact Author)
Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic ( email )
University of Arkansas School of Law ( email )
260 Waterman Hall