Cap and Trade

 Summer recess is almost over for members of congress and farmers and ranchers have a lot of concern about climate change legislation that could soon be considered in the senate.

 It’s been very difficult to get the climate change message into the town hall meetings, especially with the health care raucousness, the rowdiness. For farmers and ranchers that just doesn’t go over very well.  So they’ve had to get creative during August and part of that has been to host their own forums.  

 Cody Lyon is in charge of grassroots advocacy for the American Farm Bureau Federation.  He says farmers and ranchers have attended rallies, town hall meetings and energy forums to make sure lawmakers and the public understand how cap-and-trade legislation could hurt the economy.

 Farm Bureau members have absolutely had an impact with their senators on climate change.  They’re hearing a lot of different concerns from farmers and ranchers. Rising costs, they’ve been associated with this bill and farmers and ranchers don’t know how they’re going to absorb those costs. Farm Bureau has organized rallies across the country to show that climate change legislation would affect anyone who uses energy…which means everyone.

 The goal is to have farmers and ranchers tell the story of how they are impacted by legislation. They’ve been very effective in making sure that senators and representatives understand that issue very clearly from ag’s standpoint.