As Weather Extremes Hammer Arkansas Farms, Senator Lincoln Endorses Veto of Finding that Climate Change Threatens Farmers

On 21 January 2010, Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln announced her support for Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski’s resolution (S.J.RES.26) to “veto” a finding under the Clean Air Act that that the uncontrolled release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere endangers the welfare of farmers and the public at large. The announcement came just a week after the Democratic Senator called for disaster assistance for the state's weather-battered farmers after the wettest Fall and second wettest year in Arkansas history.

It's like insisting on government-subsidized treatment for lung cancer, while rejecting the Surgeon General's findings that cigarettes are dangerous.

As we noted in our posting Reeling from Record Rains, Arkansas Faces a Changing Climate (11/10/2009), the Fall months of September through November are getting wetter in Arkansas; and heavy downpours are becoming more frequent and intense. Fall 2009 was the wettest on record -- with devastating impacts on Arkansas farmers. The figure below illustrates the clear long term trend, accompanied by year-to-year variability.

Fall (Sep-Nov) Precipitation Trends in Arkansas
Fall (Sep-Nov) 1901 - 2000 Average = 11.32 Inches
Fall (Sep-Nov) 1895 - 2009 Trend = 0.37 Inches / Decade

According to a press release issued by Senator Lincoln's office on 14 January 2010:

“Arkansas farmers have experienced costly damage to their crops and many are unsure if their operations will survive another year,” said Chairman Lincoln...A University of Arkansas’s Division of Agriculture released report estimates Arkansas crop losses for the 2009 harvest have risen to more than $300 million. This does not factor in the more than $80 million of lost wages of agriculture-related jobs. In addition to on-farm losses, the report also shows a decline of nearly $162 million in economic value-added, which encompasses soy, corn and rice processing, cotton ginning and reduced household spending by Arkansans whose incomes are tied to agriculture.

Senator Lincoln, who is Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, called for disaster assistance for her state, where many of the counties have been designated disaster areas.

Arkansas Counties Covered by Disaster Declaration on 3 December 2009

Yet only a week later, Senator Lincoln announced her support for a resolution introduced by Alaska Senator Murkowski’s to “veto” the Environmental Protection Agency's endangerment finding under the Clean Air Act. On 15 December 2009, the EPA formally announced its finding that "six greenhouse gases taken in combination endanger both the public health and the public welfare of current and future generations." In its so-called endangerment finding, EPA said that "the body of evidence points towards increasing risk of net adverse impacts on U.S. food production and agriculture, with the potential for significant disruptions and crop failure in the future." It added:

"A key uncertainty is how human induced climate change may affect the
intensity and frequency of extreme weather events such as droughts and
heavy storms. These events have the potential to have serious negative
impact on U.S. food production and agriculture, but are not always taken
into account in studies that examine how average conditions may change as a result of carbon dioxide and temperature increases."

The impacts of climate change are being felt around the country and will become increasingly disruptive and costly as greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere (see Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States, USGCRP, 2009 ). Most economists agree that the costs of the impacts are likely to far exceed the costs of measures to reduce emissions (see Economists: Climate Change Poses Economic Threat while Reducing Emissions Promises Net Benefits). Yet Senator Lincoln has joined with a group of other Senators to reject the scientifically-based finding under the Clean Air Act that greenhouse gases pose a danger to Americans now and in the future.

If the resolution were to be enacted and signed into law, it would prevent the Administration from moving forward with regulations to reduce emissions and would leave the U.S. government without an effective means to thereby protect the public health and welfare of Americans from the widely recognized threat of disruptive climate change.

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