U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, warned federal officials Thursday that he and other members of the House Agricultural Committee feel like climate change legislation is being rushed through Congress.
Rushed legislation, he said, often has unintended consequences.
The bill, known as the American Clean Energy and Security Act, proposes using a system of “caps” and “trades” to reduce the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.
It also would require that 25 percent of the nation’s electricity come from renewable resources — wind and sun, primarily — by 2025.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, has said she planned for the House to vote on the initiative later this month.
That’s too soon, Moran said, noting that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has yet to calculate the legislation’s effect on fertilizer, natural gas and diesel fuel.
Testifying before the agriculture committee, Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack assured Moran that the calculations would be forthcoming and that many of the perceived threats to agriculture would be resolved during the legislative process.
“I have great concern that the bill before us will never reach the stage you describe,” Moran said. “That’s our problem not yours…but if you could help us with President Obama in his encouragement to Congressional leadership to take a step back and say, ‘This is such an important issue for the country, for our economy, and for future of agriculture..,’ and let Congress take its time to do a better job than what I think is going to be.”
Moran and others on the committee argued the bill was overly burdensome on agriculture, noting that farmers and ranchers would be subject to far more caps than trades.
“This is a serious issue for us,” Moran said.
Vilsack asked the committee to recognize both the need to address the causes of climate change and the bill’s “terrific” economic development opportunities for the nation’s rural sector.
-Dave Ranney is a staff writer for KHI News Service, which specializes in coverage of health issues facing Kansans. He can be reached at dranney@khi.org or at 785-233-5443, ext. 128.