EPA Administrator Michael Regan has asked the agency's ag advisory committee to analyze how the agency's policies and programs should help farmers address climate change.
In a statement marking National Ag Day, Regan said he wanted the panel, which includes farmers, "to consider how EPA’s tools and programs can best advance the U.S. agriculture sector’s climate mitigation and adaptation goals, ensuring EPA can support farmers and ranchers in their efforts to reduce emissions and accelerate a more resilient food and agriculture system."
An EPA document announcing the new charge lists several topics for the committee to address, including alternative manure management, better greenhouse gas emissions quantifications for biofuels, reduction of food waste, water management and quality issues, and “evolving pest pressures due to climate change."
The document says the committee's recommendations “should be rooted in EPA’s foundational value of scientific integrity with a commitment to ensuring environmental justice for all communities.”
“By identifying voluntary, incentive-based opportunities; public-private partnerships; and market-based approaches, EPA can support farmers and ranchers in their efforts to reduce emissions, sequester carbon, and accelerate a more resilient food and agriculture system,” the agency said.
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