John Thune

Posted: July 26th 2009

Reported by KMEG TV:

Senator John Thune today joined his Republican colleagues on the Senate Agriculture Committee in sending a letter to the chief economist at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The letter asks USDA to address concerns arising from the methodology of a study released concerning potential impact on our nation’s agriculture producers of the House-passed cap and trade bill. Much of the underlying research in the USDA study was conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

“Any form of cap and trade will have a significant impact on all sectors of our economy, but agriculture in particular would be affected due to high energy requirements,” said Thune. “USDA should reevaluate the effects of Waxman-Markey through the lens of independent analysis, not through the ideologically driven prism of studies conducted by the EPA.” Specifically, Senator Thune and the Agriculture Committee members express concerns about the veracity of EPA estimates on energy cost increases and the long-term benefits of a carbon offset program.

The letter also asks for a more detailed study of the individual benefits of afforestation and methane and nitrous oxide reductions.

... Senator Thune specifically discussed the EPA estimate’s unfeasible reliance on the assumption that carbon capture technology will be available and cost-effective by 2014, when most experts demonstrate that such technology would not be available until 2020 or 2025. He also cited concerns about the report’s failure to adequately address increased fertilizer costs as a result of cap and trade legislation.