Latest news with #NutritionandForestryCommittee
E&E News
16 hours ago
- Business
- E&E News
Senate Agriculture cuts billions for climate in megabill
The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee's piece of the Republican megabill would steer billions of dollars away from climate-related programs that shaped much of farm policy during the Biden administration. Legislative text released Wednesday would draw as much as $16 billion away from the Inflation Reduction Act's conservation provisions and redirect those unobligated funds toward long-standing programs, shedding the IRA's focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions through farmland conservation. Chair John Boozman (R-Ark.) said the measure — which will be wrapped into Republican's big tax cut and spending bill being considered through budget reconciliation — would cut waste and update farm programs that were last revised in the 2018 farm bill. Advertisement 'Our farmers and ranchers are facing real challenges, which have been unaddressed for too long,' Boozman said in a news release. 'This legislation delivers the risk management tools and updated farm bill safety net they need to keep producing the safest, most abundant and affordable food, fuel, and fiber in the world.'
E&E News
22-05-2025
- Politics
- E&E News
USDA pick dodges climate talk, pledges to work on resilience
The Trump administration's pick to lead research efforts at the Department of Agriculture said Thursday he'll look to crop and livestock genetics to stave off the damaging effects of climate change. Scott Hutchins, an entomologist who also headed USDA research programs during the first Trump administration, didn't refer specifically to the warming climate, a topic that's off limits with the current Trump team. But he said the department will continue to invest in ways to build resilience to heat, drought and other obvious consequences for food production. 'We need to be able to utilize those tools,' Hutchins told the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee at his nomination hearing for undersecretary for research, education and economics. Advertisement Democrats on the committee homed in on the issue, pressing Hutchins to commit to research that helps farmers build climate resilience. Republicans, in turn, looked for other commitments, including to land-grant universities that work with the USDA, as well as to research facilities in their own states.
