EMISSIONS TRADING DOWN ON THE FARM
Submitted by New Energy News Blog
To those who rue the coming of a greenhouse gas (GhG)-reducing, global climate change-fighting cap-and-trade system to the U.S. because of the riches it is expected to bring to emissions market players, take note: It will also be an economic opportunity for the family farm.
Nebraska farmers have been selling credits as a pool in the voluntary market of the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) and have earned a total of $518,000 since 2005. Pooling credits provides a way into the market for smaller landowners.
Credits are bought/sold by a pool manager (like a mutual fund manager). Credits were $5/metric ton (tonne) in 2007, dropped to $2/tonne and recently went up to $6/tonne following hedge fund and other speculation.
Randy Pryor, educator/land emissions topics authority, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: “It’s an opportunity for extra cash for no-till farms, well managed rangeland and newly seeded CRP acres… it (payment) may be enough to take your wife out to town for supper, or you may not get anything…”
From a 2007 Farm Journal story: The Iowa Farm Bureau reported 1,500 farmers and landowners earned $1.5 million in credit payments in 2006. Nice supper.
Leaders in the Ag sector are determined to be part of the agenda-setting process on the national mandatory cap-and-trade system so the sector will not be left behind as European Ag was. Paul Kenney, member/Nebraska farmer, Agricultural Carbon Market Working Group: “From the onset, (the goal) was to keep agriculture involved in the whole process…”
Kenney’s advice on present, voluntary markets: Practice sequestration farming techniques but don’t sign long-term contracts. Pryor recommends reading the fine print when signing contracts, asking questions and leaning toward farmers’ organizations pools.
Randy Pryor: “It’s still in its infancy…”
One Response to “EMISSIONS TRADING DOWN ON THE FARM”
Comments
May 8th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Whenever I read a Global Climate Change piece and see the phase: Stop or fight Global Climate Change, I am compelled to ask the question: When will we know it is stopped?. If something is to be stopped, then there must be something that tells us we’ve achieved that goal. Whenever I ask someone this question, I rarely get a rational answer. Unlike this position from John A. Warden III which indeed attempts to provide at least in part a rational approach to answering the question. His Thinking Strategically about Global Climate Change is indeed a bit provocative. One wonders whether all the competing Global Warming and Climate Change market participants could ever agree on an ideal climate. Maybe we ought to try!