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Farmers and Ranchers Paid to Reduce Carbon Emissions - This story by Chuck Abbott is worth a read. It’s about some very interesting and truly bipartisan legislation that may make the lives of some farmers easier. On June 25, a bill entitled the “Growing Climate Solutions Act”, co-sponsored by Sen. Deb Stabenow, of Michigan, and Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana passed the Senate 92-8. The plan will help small farmers and ranchers get paid for reducing carbon emissions through carbon capture and should provide them with steady income in the years to come. Since 10% of carbon emissions comes from the AG sector, this plan should be a win win for farmers and the climate. Stay tuned. Disastrous Heat and Drought - Texas utilities are begging customers to curb power usage. Wildfires are blazing in Arizona, Montana and Utah. And water levels in Lake Mead - which provides water to 25 million people - is at its lowest level since the 1930’s. Extreme heat conditions in the west are a sign of the mounting dangers that will affect the rest of the country too. As farmers are planting fractions of their usual crops, leaving land entirely fallow, and culling dairy herds for lack of water, higher food prices and shortages are surely on the way. The costs of climate-related catastrophes have grown from $128 billion in the 80’s to $270 billion in the 90’s, $510 billion in the 2000’s and a whopping $802 billion the last decade. It seems like doing nothing about climate change will prove more costly than tackling the issue. Read More The sad burden of student loans owed by older Americans - This piece is about the growing impact of student loan debt on older people - usually rural and working-class - who guaranteed their kids' student loans only to watch it spiral upward.
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