Recognizing the members for their service, Vilsack said, “We can only make good decisions on complex and emerging challenges like air quality with expert guidance from a cross-section of interests. Our goal is to minimize the public impact of air pollution that is associated with agricultural practices while—at the same time—preserving farming as a way of life. We’re doing this by developing science-based climate solutions and cutting-edge technologies, and by working closely with farmers, ranchers, and land owners as well as our federal partners.”
The Agricultural Air Quality Task Force is meant to promote USDA research efforts and identify cost-effective ways the agriculture industry can improve air quality. It also helps better coordinate activities and resources among USDA agencies and other federal partners such as the Environmental Protection Agency.
The members of the 2013-2015 task force are:
Arizona
Kevin G. Rogers, Producer/Arizona Farm Bureau Federation
California
Kevin Abernathy, Milk Producers Council
Paul Buttner, California Rice
Commission
Cynthia Cory, California Farm Bureau Federation
Manuel F. Cunha, Jr., Nisei Farmers League
Richard McVaigh, San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District
Florida
Michael Abazinge, Florida A&M University
Idaho
April Leytem, USDA Agricultural Research Service
Iowa
Chris Petersen, Producer/National Farmers Union
Hongwei Xin, Iowa State University
Louisiana
Annette Sharp, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
Maryland
D’Ann Williams, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
Minnesota
Larry Jacobson, University of Minnesota
Missouri
Terry Spence, Producer
North Carolina
Lisa Greene, RTI International
Sally Shaver, Shaver Consulting Inc.
Lingjuan Wang Li, North Carolina State University
Pennsylvania
William Angstadt, Delaware-Maryland Agribusiness Association
Eileen Wheeler, Pennsylvania State University
Tennessee
Robert Burns, University of Tennessee
William Norman, National Cotton Council
Texas
Robert Avant, Jr., Texas A&M University
Brock Faulkner, Texas A&M University
Bryan Shaw, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
Virginia
William Herz, The Fertilizer Institute
Washington
Nichole Embertson, Whatcom Conservation District
Brenton Sharratt, USDA Agricultural Research Service
The Agricultural Air Quality Task Force is scheduled to meet later this fall. For more information on the task force, visit NRCS’ air quality webpage. To learn more about USDA’s work to help rural America create climate solutions and the effort to reduce carbon pollution, visit www.usda.gov/climatesolutions.
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