10/05/07 Helping Create Rural Prosperity

Helping Create Rural Prosperity. I'm Greg Martin as Line On Agriculture presents the Harvest Clean Energy Report. We all realize that fossil fuels will not last forever and of the need for developing a renewable fuel source if not multiple sources. It appears the answer in is our own back yard. Patrick Mazza is the Research Director for Climate Solutions says new studies show rural areas are going to be the benefactor to new renewable fuels production. MAZZA: These studies show that farmers and farm communities stand to tremendously benefit if we create a national energy standard for at least 20% new renewable energy by 2020. For example, payment for biomass energy crops would total $25 to $34 billion dollars. Payments to rural land owners for wind farm leases would total $475 million to $562 million. That really is only the tip of the energy iceberg according to Mazza. MAZZA: In addition, you're going to see $43 to $66 billion new dollars invested in clean energy facilities mostly in rural areas and that will increase local property tax revenues by $1.5 to $2 billion dollars. That doesn't take into account all the new jobs that will be created. For many years we have seen almost a mass exodus from the rural landscape. Small farming communities have been struggling but it would appear that trend can and will be reversed. MAZZA: I believe that. You know right now farming is a 3-legged stool; its food, feed and fiber. And fuel for both the electrical sector and the vehicle sector adds a fourth leg to the stool and as everybody knows a four-legged stool is more stable than a three-legged stool. The metaphor aside, we are seeing more dollars and jobs being pumped back into local rural economies. And Mazza says there is a need for multiple renewable fuel sources. MAZZA: All of the above. You know we've cruised for quite a while on fossil fuels and now that some of the fossil fuels, particularly oil and gas are starting to get a little more scarce we need to diversify our energy sources so there's really no silver bullets here. To meet our global energy need and have clean air at the same time, we're going to need everything we've got. So we're going to need to take advantage of all the renewable energy sources. There are a number of programs floating around out there including the 25x25 initiative. As long as we continue to develop these renewable energy sources, everyone  not just the rural communities will greatly benefit. For additional information on clean energy, visit harvestcleanenergy.org. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network. www.harvestcleanenergy.org www.nfu.org/wp-content/res-for-nfu-7-27-2-07-clean.pdf