Washington, July 12, 2023 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will invest $300 million through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to measure, monitor, report and verify greenhouse gas emissions and carbon emissions from climate-smart agriculture and forestry. The new investments made possible by the Depreciation Act advance priorities set out in the broader federal strategy for greenhouse gas mitigation and monitoring and control of the agriculture and forestry sectors (PDF, 813 KB) and released today as a public draft. It describes a strategic framework and priority actions to improve accuracy and reduce uncertainty in greenhouse gas estimates.
The Depreciation Act provided nearly $20 billion in total investments for climate-smart agriculture and forestry. Today’s announcement and broader federal strategy supports the effective implementation of these climate and conservation investments and further supports President Biden’s bold goal of reducing atmospheric emissions by 50-52 percent by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.
“From day one, the Biden-Harris administration has taken bold steps on climate-smart agriculture by making programs as strong and effective as possible,” Vilsack said. “To do this, we need to improve the scientific backbone of our programs. This new USDA investment, made through President Biden’s Invest in America agenda, is unmatched in its scope and potential to improve data and measure greenhouse gas emissions—increasing accuracy, reducing uncertainty, and enhancing overall confidence in these estimates. We are data-driven, and seek continuous improvement in our climate-smart agriculture and forestry efforts.
“One of the remaining technological challenges to addressing the climate crisis is making sure natural solutions in agriculture and forestry are working well,” said John Podesta, the president’s senior adviser on clean energy innovation and deployment. “Today’s USDA announcement of $300 million from the Inflationary Reduction Act is a major step forward in measuring and ensuring emissions across sectors.”
“Farmers and ranchers are on the front lines of the climate crisis and are more committed than ever to providing solutions that protect and improve our lands and waters,” said NCA Ali Zadi. “From day one, President Biden has understood how climate change affects our rural communities. This new funding and strategy will improve our national greenhouse gas emissions estimates for the agriculture and forestry sectors and make these climate solutions more accessible in information, science and technology to address the current crisis.” “Innovation creates development. Investment ready for the private sector.”
President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act – the single largest investment in climate and clean energy solutions in US history – tasked the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) with measuring and tracking carbon emissions and greenhouse gas emissions, and collecting field-based data to assess its effectiveness. Climate-smart mitigation practices in reducing these emissions.
To accomplish these tasks, USDA has identified seven key areas of focus that reflect the framework set forth in the Federal Strategy and based on significant input from stakeholders:
- Establish and expand a soil carbon monitoring and research network with a permanent biomass component;
- Establish and promote greenhouse gas research network;
- Expand data management, infrastructure and capacity;
- Develop models and tools to assess greenhouse gas impacts at operational, regional and national levels.
- Modify NRCS conservation practice standards and implementation information to reflect greenhouse gas reduction opportunities;
- Improve temporal and spatial coverage of National Guard activity data; And
- Strengthen USDA’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Assessment Program.
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USDA continues to engage stakeholders and technical experts to inform this effort. Those interested in learning more about the effort are encouraged Register for the webinar That USDA is holding on July 21, 2023 at 1pm Eastern Time.
Additionally, USDA is seeking comment on the draft federal strategy published today on behalf of the Biden-Harris administration. The report and request for information are available here: www.regulations.gov/docket/USDA-2023-0009. The strategy was developed by USDA, the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Interior, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and others on behalf of the Greenhouse Gas Monitoring and Measurement Interactive Group. The draft federal strategy provides a federal plan to increase measurement, monitoring, reporting and verification in five areas in agriculture and forestry. These include improved greenhouse gas and soil carbon monitoring, adaptation and improvement of related research, use of sophisticated models and tools for better predictions, and faster and more accurate conservation data collection, including better use of remote sensing data.
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The Depreciation Act is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda and bidonomics strategy to grow the U.S. economy from the middle to the bottom, rebuild our nation’s infrastructure, mobilize more than $500 billion in private sector manufacturing investments to date, create good-paying jobs, and climate change. Building a clean energy economy to meet the crisis and make our communities stronger. The Depreciation Act provides $19.5 billion for USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service conservation programs, including an investment of $300 million in measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification efforts.
This announcement builds on USDA’s ongoing efforts to support climate-smart agriculture, including new projects supported by the USDA Partnership for Climate-Smart Products opportunity. The USDA has invested more than $3.1 billion in 141 projects for climate-smart commodities efforts, all of which plan to measure, monitor, report, and verify greenhouse gas benefits. This Inflation Reduction Act investment joins other ongoing efforts, including NRCS’s $8 million investment in soil carbon sampling and USDA’s $10 million investment in the USDA’s Farm Service Agency’s Climate Protection Program results.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans every day in many positive ways. Under Secretary Vilsack in the Biden-Harris administration, USDA is committed to transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on building new, more sustainable local and regional food production, fair markets for all producers, ensuring access to healthy and nutritious food in all communities. Income streams for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capacity in rural America, and removing systemic barriers and building a more representative American workforce to create equity in the Department. .
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