This week, the Senate will vote on 40 final amendments to the Farm Bill. One amendment the Senate should support comes from Senators Wyden and Harkin. The amendment would restore sustainable production criteria to the Bioenergy Crop Transition Assistance Program (BCTAP) within the Farm Bill's Energy Title.
In the Farm Bill coming out of the Senate Agriculture Committee, the BCTAP would assist farmers and foresters who want to produce cellulosic bioenergy crops for the next generation of bioenergy refineries. The Wyden-Harkin Amendment would go a step further by creating incentive and cost share payments to farmers growing perennial bioenergy crops that meet certain sustainable stewardship thresholds to promote clean water, healthy soil, wildlife habitat, and reduced carbon.
Over 90 organizations, including IATP, sent a letter to Senators on Friday outlining why the Wyden and Harkin amendment is important. The National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture has put together an Action Alert on the Wyden-Harkin amendment.
The current corn-based system for ethanol threatens to cause a number of environmental problems. IATP has written about potential water quantity and water quality issues related to a strictly corn-based system. An article co-authored by IATP's Dr. Dennis Keeney and Mark Muller in the June issue of the journal Science, outlined how perennial grasses could help lead the way towards a more sustainable cropping system that has long-term environmental and rural development benefits.
The current biofuel sector in the U.S. has devotedly followed the incentives set by public policy. Past Farm Bills have encouraged the mass production of biofuels' first primary feedstock - corn. The policies we set in the 2007 Farm Bill will play a big role in determining the long-term sustainability of the next generation of biofuel crops.
