FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 7, 2019

Contact: Andrew Jerome, 202-314-3106
[email protected]

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts and U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York today released a framework for what they call a “Green New Deal.” The resolution is meant to kickstart broad discussions on how the U.S. will both mitigate and adapt to climate change, which is current projected to drastically alter the U.S. economic and social stability.

National Farmers Union (NFU) Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Communications Rob Larew released the following statement in response to the the Green New Deal resolution:

“Farmers Union members understand the need for action on climate change, and they will be active in ensuring farmers have the tools and incentives they need to both adapt to and help mitigate climate change.

“American family farmers are primary stakeholders in the battle against climate change, as they’ve been withstanding increasingly devastating natural disasters, including floods, drought, wildfires and hurricanes. The impacts on not only their individual bottom lines, but also on their communities, have already been significant, and they will be exacerbated by more severe disasters.

“NFU stands ready to work with Congress to ensure that federal legislation recognizes what’s at stake for farm families and rural communities, and what potential we have to offer national and global efforts to sequester carbon and curb the worsening effects of climate change.”

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View NFU members’ 2018 Special Order of Business on Family Farming and Leading the Way on Climate Change.

View NFU’s 2019 legislative policy brief on climate change.

To download an audio file of Rob Larew’s quote, visit our website at nfu.org/audio.

About NFU
National Farmers Union advocates on behalf of nearly 200,000 American farm families and their communities. We envision a world in which farm families and their communities are respected, valued, and enjoy economic prosperity and social justice.

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One Comment

  • NFU’s Market Driven Inventory System may be the most important need for a Green New Deal, (or the new proposal from Texas Farmers Union). Like the original new deal, the biggest solutions are in (nonspending) market management, not in the small and shrinking “safety net” government spending programs. The key issue is that, with cheaper and cheaper and cheaper farm prices, (farmers subsidizing CAFOs,) most farms have lost their value added livestock options, and with that, their diverse crop rotation options, (utilizing livestock feeds). Historically this is a multi-trillion dollar issue, just for grains. It also points toward the increasing corporate authoritarianism, (agribusiness colonization of US agriculture, where our policy is to lose money (at the farm gate, vs full costs, USDA-ERS) on farm export for decades, (i.e. 8 major crops and dairy).

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