Where the US Farm Bill stands as Americans get ready to celebrate harvest fest/Thanksgiving
Responding to a question from a reader in Pennsylvania, Jetta Wong has written an update on the 2007 Farm Bill over at Renewable Energy Access. This bill, as we've written before, has a lot to do with topics AutoblogGreen readers care about because it affects how biofuels might be grown in America in the coming years. As Americans get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving, it's a good time to take a look at the bill that defines so much for the farmers and agribusinesses in this country.
The Farm Bill is a pentannual (I think that's a word) piece of legislation that deals with pretty much everything related to growing crops: pest control, subsidies, ethanol, food stamps, etc. The current status is that the bill is basically dead because the U.S. Senate voted to cut off debate on the Farm Bill five days ago. Wong's article gives a good recap of how we got to where are today, and says that with the current bill dead, it's looking like there might be a one-year or maybe two-year extension added to the current bill to give lawmakers more time to hem and haw.
The U.S. government's website about the bill is here. The Wikipedia hive mind version is here.
Related:
[Source: REA]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
TG 4:41PM (11/21/2007)
What*s wrong with my vision??
When the EV and fuel-cell tide starts to roar, what are all the bio-plants going to do?
I see a glut of distilled liquors. Gin will be $1.00 a bottle.
I see corn farmers scrambling to refinance equipment and switching to other crops.
I see Exxon selling a whole lot more special separator films for Lithium battery manufacturing. = TG
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Owain Ozymandias Buck 3:56PM (11/22/2007)
It's a shame the clowns in D.C. can't get a good, progressive farm bill passed. It looked good early in the year, before all the folks whose seats depended on keeping the status quo buthered it. I don't have much love for the Bush administration, but they had a pretty good bill proposed that had reform of subsidies, stuff for specialty growers and organics, good stuff for next gen. bioenergy, etc.
Let's hope they get off their asses soon.
Oh, when the EV's and Fuel Cells drop, we'll still be selling biomass to power plants. Or at exporting pellets to the rest of the developed world while we choke on coal exhaust. ;)
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TG 5:55PM (11/22/2007)
Owain, You said,
**Oh, when the EV's and Fuel Cells drop, we'll still be selling biomass to power plants. Or at exporting pellets to the rest of the developed world while we choke on coal exhaust. ;)**
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You are probably correct, especially the part about choking on coal carbons.
The biggest polluter is the massive liquifaction Coal plant in Africa but sheer number of Coal-Gen plants worldwide is our biggest human mistake. [US power = 52% coal]
Retro-fitting coal plants for cleaner exhaust should be World Priority One! Yet, Al Gore and the gang fail to simplify that message to the world.
Why did he win that BIG prize again? = TG
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