By Lloyd
Ritter, Co-Director, Agriculture Energy Coalition
In
its recent report, “Farms and Free Enterprise: A Blueprint for Agricultural
Policy,” The Heritage Foundation calls for the elimination of constructive energy
programs in the next Farm Bill. That’s a nonsensical proposition. The Farm Bill’s
Energy Title reduces our dependence on oil, reduces carbon emissions, and helps
meet growing consumer demand for sustainable energy and bioproducts. Further,
the programs have unlocked billions of dollars of private lending for rural
communities, which otherwise lack access to capital. The programs are
supporting a resurgence of manufacturing in the United States, which drives job
creation and economic growth for rural communities across the United States.
The bi-partisan
renewable energy and energy efficiency programs in the 2014 Farm Bill, like
previous farm bills, have undoubtedly made a difference in growing our nation’s
agricultural and clean energy economy. Examples abound.
The
USDA “REAP” program has funded renewable energy and energy efficiency projects
in all 50 states. Between fiscal years 2009 and 2016 (to date), REAP has
supported approximately 6449 projects! These include solar, geothermal,
biomass, small hydro, wind, and energy efficiency measures, including approximately
5,363,140 mWh of electricity produced cumulatively during this time period.
Very
recently the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a new
report highlighting the economic impact of the U.S. biobased industry over
the past decade. The report shows that in 2014, the biobased products industry
contributed $393 billion and 4.2 million jobs to America's recovering economy.
It also indicates that the sector grew from 2013 to 2014, creating or
supporting an additional 220,000 jobs and $24 billion over that period. This
success can be tied back to the investments made through the Farm Bill energy
programs.
The
Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI) is a joint program through
USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Energy Department
(DOE) that develops economically and environmentally sustainable sources of
renewable biomass and increases the availability of renewable fuels and
biobased products. It addresses the development of cost-effective technologies
for using biomass in the production of biofuels and/or biobased products, which
can lead to cheaper and cleaner alternatives to petroleum based products. The
program has invested more than $332 million to accelerate research into new
markets for farm and ranch based biomass.
The
Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) provides financial assistance to
producers and businesses to grow, harvest and deliver cutting-edge biomass
feedstocks to commercial renewable energy facilities. The program also supports
hazardous fuels reductions, helping the most heavily forested states protect
forests, and develop energy. Producers have cultivated roughly 49,000 acres of
purpose-grown energy crops for the production of next-generation biofuels and
bioenergy with assurance that this federal program will help them understand
and manage the risks of producing new crops.
The Farm
Bill’s 9003 program provides access to capital for manufacturers developing,
constructing or retrofitting biorefineries for advanced biofuels or renewable
chemicals. Under the 9003 Program, USDA works with rural lenders to expand
access to funding for manufacturers in rural communities that might never be
able to pool sufficient capital for large manufacturing projects. To date, the
program has provided $844 million in loan guarantees, helping advanced biofuels
start-ups leverage more than a billion dollars in new capital.
The
Heritage Foundation’s report misrepresents the clear successes and innovation of
the Farm Bill’s bi-partisan Energy title and ignores the real world benefits it
brings to the rural economy. Those benefits include displacement of about 6.8
million barrels of foreign oil each year, improving our energy security, and
reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 10 million metric tons per
year, which improves our environment.
The
latest Farm Bill has spurred the growth of the clean energy and “bioeconomy”
and expanded markets for thousands of producers and sustainable enterprises,
benefiting rural America and the rest of the nation. That’s why more than 100
organizations across the country, from the agriculture, energy, environmental
and rural development sectors have all voiced support many times for these
sensible, forward thinking public investments. These efforts deserve meaningful
and consistent Federal support going forward to fully achieve their potential.
About
Lloyd Ritter
Lloyd
Ritter is the founder and managing partner of Green Capitol, LLC. Since 2006,
Green Capitol has specialized in agriculture, clean energy and environment
advocacy, strategic planning, and public policy development. Lloyd is a seasoned
veteran in agriculture, energy, environment, public health, sustainable
development policy and advocacy with more than twenty years’ experience in all
levels of government - domestic and international. He has written and/or helped
pass landmark legislation such as the clean energy title of the Farm Bill, the
first Renewable Fuels Standard, and important renewable electricity and tax
provisions. Lastly, Lloyd is a coalition developer and manager, including
running the Agriculture Energy Coalition.
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