AgOffsets: April 2008

Climate Legislation Could Benefit Agricultural Community

New Website Serves As Resource For Farmers

For more information contact:

Laura Sands, Ag Carbon Markets Working Group Coordinator, (307) 683- 2730 or

(307) 751- 0501

Jennifer Dickson, Environmental Defense Fund, (202) 572-3401 or (202) 520-1221

(Washington - April 20, 2008) This week the Ag Carbon Markets Working Group (ACMWG) launched www.agcarbonmarkets.com as a resource tool for the agriculture community. The website is geared towards helping farmers understand the potential financial benefits of climate legislation pending before Congress.

“Our website will help farmers better understand the value of agriculture offsets like methane capture and soil carbon sequestration,” said Laura Sands, coordinator of the Ag Carbon Markets Working Group. “This is an opportunity for the ag community to find new revenue streams that help their pocket books while protecting the environment.”

The website also introduces a radio ad that features famers calling on Congress to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through carbon offsets. The ad will be airing in markets across the U.S. over the coming weeks.

Current estimates of U.S. greenhouse gas markets indicate that U.S. farms have the potential to mitigate as much as 40% of our nation's total climate impact with practices such as soil carbon sequestration or methane capture.

Under the Lieberman Warner Climate Security Act, which is now before the Senate, U.S. agricultural producers could receive billions of dollars annually from offset markets or choose to participate in a USDA carbon conservation program funded by the climate market. However, these new markets are not assured as the final bill has not passed the Senate floor, and the House has yet to announce their own version of a climate bill.

“Congress has some pretty important decisions ahead of them and farmers can play a crucial role,” said Sands. “ACMWG wants to ensure farmers have a seat at the table when the final bill is negotiated. Our website is a resource driven site that hopes to pull all of the material about ag offsets into one location to make it as easy as possible for interested parties to learn more.”

The Ag Carbon Markets Working Group (ACMWG) was developed through a process of collaboration between Environmental Defense Fund, concerned farmers and industry experts. ACMWG has spent two years studying and addressing potential carbon offset markets for agriculture that could result from national policy and works cooperatively with other entities interested in seeing carbon markets for agriculture.

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Great News! A new easy-to-use resource tool has just been launched to help provide the latest information, research and policy ideas to the agricultural community and to policymakers o ag carbon offset markets.

The website: www.agcarbonmarkets.com

What makes this resource unique is that it is a product of the Ag Carbon Market Working group -- which is comprised of several farmers who have been past presidents and board members of various commodity groups -- and have been studying the ag-carbon issue for almost 3 years now.

This group has been working in cooperation with the Environmental Defense Fund -- one of the few environmental groups that has a long track record of supporting agriculture offsets within climate policy legislation.

I urge you to check it out -- and report back on your thoughts about it -- and what more it may need?

Sara