Senate passes bill to help farmers, forest owners get paid in private markets for taking steps against climate change

By an overwhelming bipartisan vote, the Senate has approved legislation "intended to encourage greater use of farming and forestry practices that prevent greenhouse gas emissions and remove planet-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, reports John Flesher of The Associated Press.

The bill, sent to the House 92-8, authorizes the Agriculture Department to help farmers and forest owners "earn payments through private markets for planting offseason cover crops, reducing tillage and taking other steps to lock up carbon in soils and trees," Flesher reports.

"Federal policies have long supported environmentally friendly practices such as planting buffer strips to prevent soil and nutrient erosion that feeds harmful algae blooms in waters. Some of those actions also work against climate change. Pulling marginal lands out of crop production, for example, can make way for carbon-absorbing grasses, trees and wetlands."

The private markets have been created by companies that buy credits for carbon and other greenhouse gases stored in farmlands and forests, "working through brokers who contract with farmers to use the best-management practices," Flesher notes. The USDA program "would certify those who provide technical assistance to farmers entering carbon markets — and third-party experts who verify that the emission-preventing steps are taken."

Some Republicans say the measure would interfere with private markets, and some climate-change activists say voluntary actions aren't enough, "But the bill drew support from other environmentalists — and farm groups which which they are often at odds," such as the American Farm Bureau Federation.