Sustainability in the Farm Bill

Author: Alan H. McGowan, Lecturer, Environmental Studies Program, New School in New York City.

This Q&A was originally published in the journal Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, here (open access through June 7, 2023)

While at COP27, EESI President Daniel Bresette participated in a November 9, 2022, panel to discuss a U.S. Nature4Climate poll that found overwhelming public support for natural climate solutions. He noted, "Natural climate solutions are a key area for U.S. policy leadership at COP27. And that leadership can move ahead on a bipartisan basis."

Every five years, Congress passes the “Farm Bill,” which covers a wide range of issues from conservation to rural development to food and nutrition. It is coming up for renewal in this session. What would EESI most like to see in the 2023 Farm Bill?

• The Farm Bill is considered “must-pass” legislation, which means a lot of people will project their interests on it and hope their priorities can catch a ride as it moves through the legislative process and is enacted. Climate solutions are no exception. But whether the Farm Bill becomes the next big climate bill remains to be seen.
• There is no shortage of agricultural climate solutions that can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also increasing resilience. Some of the issues we will be tracking especially closely include energy efficiency, renewable energy, and electrification on farms; forestry and conservation; biofuels and bioenergy; and land management and carbon sequestration. I would be very pleased to see a Farm Bill emerge from Congress that expands opportunities to advance climate solutions in rural areas and improves the overall sustainability of how we grow, harvest, process, and consume food, while minimizing waste.

The 2014 Farm Bill authorized the Rural Energy Savings Program (RESP). How successful has it been? What lessons can be learned from it in developing similar programs?

• This is a great program. It had the misfortune of launching just before the Trump Administration, which was not eager to promote it or to do much of anything that would have been helpful. So the early successes of the program were really the result of committed USDA officials who implemented the program consistent with the will of Congress.
• RESP is a complement to the wide range of financial incentives provided by Congress in the IIJA and IRA. We know RESP works: USDA has approved 35 RESP loans worth about $300 million to rural utilities and related entities. Those loans have helped thousands of households make cost-effective investments in energy efficiency and other clean energy measures. Inclusive on-bill financing programs are the perfect match for grants, rebates, and tax credits. There are thousands of rural utilities, and USDA has the resources to make scores of additional RESP loans with existing funding. Our message to rural utilities is that this is the time to begin developing and implementing on-bill financing programs to ensure the availability of low-cost financing to help augment the IRA incentives once those are ready. We are encouraging USDA and DOE to coordinate early and often. Inter­agency coordination is a good thing; that would be a key lesson to learn from our work with RESP.

How realistic is it to think that we will substantially move to what is called “sustainable agriculture”? What time frame will the transition take?

• There are many agricultural climate solutions available today. Farmers across the country are already embracing sustainable practices, from cover crops to renewable energy. The focus is now on helping farmers adopt these practices at scale on a time frame consistent with meeting our Paris Agreement goals.
• We worked with our friends at the Natural Resources Defense Council last year on a briefing about regenerative agriculture—the practice of farming in sync with the local environment and climate. They put together a great report that served as the basis of the session. A lot of agricultural practices that we might call “sustainable” today actually date back generations, and often to Indigenous farmers. I think it is very realistic to make that move, including by remembering how things used to be done and applying those lessons from the past to meet the needs of today.