U.S. plans to tackle agriculture's contribution to climate change

Natasha Geiling writes about
agriculture and climate change.

Last April, the United States Department of Agriculture announced plans to tackle agriculture’s contribution to climate change.

Dubbed the USDA’s Building Blocks for Climate Smart Agriculture & Forestry, the plan included a set of voluntary but incentive-based programs in ten key areas, from soil health to nutrient management. All told, the USDA estimated that the programs would help agriculture cut its emissions by 120 million metric tons by 2025 — the equivalent of taking more than 25 million passenger vehicles off the road.

Now, a year later, the department is reflecting on the progress it has made through a newly released report that serves as the first annual check-in on the initiatives.

“It’s an important topic,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack told ThinkProgress. “Agriculture wants to play its role in trying to reduce emissions, and to try to allow the United States to adapt and mitigate to a changing climate in the most efficient way possible.”

Read Natasha Geiling’s story on ClimateProgress - “Agriculture, A Huge Contributor To Climate Change, Is Starting To Clean Up Its Act.”