Following the Biden administration’s recent climate-related executive orders, the same administration is now looking at taking climate action a step further. The recent orders include a pause on new oil and gas leases on federal property, “alignment of financial flows with the objectives of the Paris Agreement,” and setting a new target for reducing U.S. “Greenhouse Gas” emissions by 2030.
Read the entire Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad.
But you won’t believe where that money is coming from.
Biden is setting his sights on American agricultural policy
According to new reports, the White House is looking to take advantage of a new funding source from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC).
During his Senate confirmation hearing, Tom Vilsack said the CCC funds “could be used to create a market to trade carbon or help farmers adopt sustainable agriculture practices.” Vilsack said these programs could then be expanded and included in future farm bills.
“It is a great tool for us to create the kind of structure that will inform future farm bills about what will encourage carbon sequestration, what will encourage precision agriculture, what will encourage soil health and regenerative agricultural practices,” said Tom Vilsack, Biden’s nominee for USDA chief at his senate confirmation hearing.
What is the CCC, and what is its purpose?
There is little doubt that this administration, like others before, will do anything that puts small farmers ahead of major Big Ag corporations.
A handful of private projects launched recently by the likes of Cargill and Bayer have tried to compensate growers for sustainable agriculture practices. Many farmers, however, have been reluctant to make the shift due to high upfront costs for uncertain or minimal returns.
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The fact that Cargill and Bayer have been promoting these projects, with “uncertain or minimal returns” should hint as to what form of “sustainability” we are looking at here. Biden’s new USDA chief is also a significant clue as to what we are looking at for the future of the administration’s agricultural policy. Tom Vilsack, after all, is a product of Big AG.
As Green Matters author Sophie Hirsh writes,
While serving as Obama’s agriculture secretary, Vilsack made a few controversial moves regarding genetically-modified crops; for instance, he expedited the approval process for GMOs, he helped create a GMO-labeling bill meant to replace Vermont’s stricter standards, and he did away with regulations on “big agriculture” to appease the industry, as explained by In These Times.
The outlet added that these decisions caused his critics to nickname him “Mr. Monsanto,” referring to Bayer’s Monsanto, the company responsible for inventing the glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup.
. . . .
Vilsack’s record in regards to animal agriculture is also a bit worrisome. For instance, in 2014, Vilsack and the USDA proposed removing some of the Food Safety Inspection Service inspectors from poultry slaughterhouses, who are responsible for examining slaughtered chicken for “defects.”
. . . .
Vilsack also has concerning ties with the dairy industry. After leaving the White House in early 2017, he promptly accepted a position as President and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC), which he still holds (but would presumably step down from, should his nomination as Secretary of Agriculture be approved). In his role at the USDEC, Vilsack works with major dairy associations to help increase sales and “consumer trust.” Therefore, his inextricable ties to the dairy industry could be seen as a conflict of interest.
Here’s what sustainable does NOT mean with this administration.
It seems safe to say that the new “sustainable” practices promoted by the Biden administration are NOT going to focus on non-GMO traditional or organic agriculture. Nor will these practices be to prevent over-farming. Instead, the expansion, centralization, and domination of Big Ag corporations over the United States’ food supply will be expanded. The farmers, consumers, and the environment will all suffer.
But Big Ag will do just fine.
What do you think?
Where would you prefer the $30 billion CCC fund to be allocated? Do you think this will encourage healthy environmental practices? Or is it all crony corporatism? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Source: The Organic Prepper
Robert Wheeler has been quietly researching world events for two decades. After witnessing the global network of NGOs and several ‘Revolutions’ they engineered in a number of different countries, Wheeler began analyzing current events through these lenses.
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In Case Food Isn’t Expensive Enough, Biden Wants to Redistribute USDA Funds to Fight Climate Change