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American Corn Growers Association challenges criticism of energy and climate legislation
Speaking to the "ReAmp Upper Midwest Global Warming Solutions" planning meeting in Chicago in mid-January, Keith Dittrich, chairman of the board of the American Corn Growers Association, responded to recent criticism of the cap-and-trade legislation currently pending in Congress. "Cap and trade expands the market for farm production and will offer historic opportunities from an economy that has an insatiable demand for energy," stated Dittrich. "By protecting the environment, it will also ensure that farmers will be able to meet the needs of feeding a growing world, not damage that ability, as the American Farm Bureau Federation recently stated." While Dittrich fully understands that this legislation may potentially increase the cost of some energy products, he sees this as an investment for the future of America and stated that farmers "must understand that they should now consider themselves energy producers as well." Dittrich also scoffed at AFBF comments that cap and trade will downsize agriculture and the prediction that millions of acres of trees might be planted to capture a rising carbon market, stating that these "USDA predictions are most likely as inaccurate as the last Crop Production report" and that, in fact, farmers would be able to reap a new stream of income by sequestering carbon and trading permits. Dittrich concluded his comments to the participants by stating that farmers must understand that climate change is real, according to the vast majority of experts, many of whom signed on to a recent letter by the Union of Concerned Scientists, requesting that the AFBF meet with them regarding this issue. "It behooves me to state that it is not right for those less informed to challenge the scientific community regarding this issue, in which many have given their lives to science to protect our world, no more than someone challenging my expertise as a farmer of over 30 years. The worst-case scenario if we are wrong is that we will have built an energy system that is diverse, domestic, decentralized, renewable and more sustainable."
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