More Cuts Proposed for Agriculture Conservation and Energy Programs

On May 24, the House Appropriations Committee Agriculture Subcommittee approved deep cuts in funding for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) food and agriculture programs for next year (FY 2012). The subcommittee proposes to cut $2.7 billion (13.4 percent) from the USDA's budget. This comes on top of equally deep cuts Congress recently enacted for USDA's FY 2011 budget. If enacted, funding for food and agriculture programs would fall more than 25 percent below 2010 spending levels on average, according to the ranking Democratic member of the subcommittee, Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA).

The Subcommittee proposes to cut as much as $1 billion from conservation programs, eliminate all funding for the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) (FY 2011 funding was cut to $75 million, and the administration’s request for FY 2012 was $107 million) and the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) (FY 2011 funding was cut to $112 million, and the administration’s request for FY 2012 was $198 million), and cap the Bioenergy for Advanced Biofuels Program at $55 million (the administration’s request for FY 2012 was $105 million).

These cuts would be a major setback for the nation’s climate, energy, economic and environmental security. Addressing the nation’s fiscal deficit and debt is an important priority. But addressing the nation’s jobs deficit, trade deficit, energy security, and climate and environmental imbalances are arguably just as urgent, if not more so. Cutting the budget in this way may address the fiscal problem in the short term, but it will make these other problems even bigger. There are other ways Congress could address the fiscal deficit while also addressing these other national priorities – such as making strategic investments to help the nation grow its way out of all of these deficits at the same time.

REAP is one such strategic investment. According to the Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC) , “Each year more farmers and rural businesses have used REAP, with demand far outpacing the available funding. Since 2003, REAP has helped nearly 6,000 farmers and rural businesses in every state in the U.S. with grants and loan guarantees to help finance new clean energy and energy efficiency projects, drive private investment and save many millions of dollars each year on energy costs.” For example, REAP has helped finance dozens of anaerobic digesters on farms to help transform polluting livestock waste streams into renewable heat and power and useful co-products while improving local air and water quality. Reducing energy costs and producing local renewable energy are keys to future prosperity and competitiveness for rural America, while also being keys to protecting public health and the environment.

BCAP and the Bioenergy for Advanced Biofuels Program are other strategic investments that can help rural America grow its way out of recession. BCAP supports the establishment of new renewable energy crops that can be used to produce advanced biofuels, bioheat, biopower, or bio-based products. Developing next generation biofuels will help reduce U.S. dependence on imported petroleum, reduce the trade deficit, and provide jobs across rural America. Federal support for developing sustainable biomass feedstocks and biorefineries is critical now when the industry is just getting started.

Conservation programs help restore healthy ecosystems and ecosystem services and protect soil and water resources. A recent report from the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service found that conservation programs are making a significant difference in the Upper Mississippi Valley. Soil erosion and pollution from fertilizer and pesticides are being reduced dramatically across landscapes where USDA-sponsored conservation practices are being used and where the most highly erodible land is being taken out of production. These conservation programs and practices in the Mississippi River Basin – and in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and elsewhere – are key to reducing soil erosion and restoring local clean water supplies. In addition, conservation programs help capture millions of tons of climate change-forcing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and sequester it in plants and soils. Much more still needs to be done through expanded conservation programs to further reduce soil erosion and water pollution from agriculture. However, in the future, these efforts could lead to restoring productive fisheries and fishing industries downstream in the Gulf of Mexico, the Chesapeake Bay, and elsewhere along the nation’s coasts, where today there are only polluted dead zones.

The full House appropriations committee ( Republicans , Democrats ) is scheduled to vote on the bill on May 31. Then it will be up to the Senate, where the appropriations process is not yet under way.