4/5/02

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1. Heritage Says Farm Bill Price Tag $4,377 Per Household
2. Bush Spends Renewable Energy Funds on Oil Energy Plan
3. Convention on Biological Diversity Addresses Farm Issues
4. Iowa Farm Bureau called "shameless"

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1. HERITAGE SAYS FARM BILL PRICE TAG $4,377 PER HOUSEHOLD

The Heritage Foundation is calling for Congress to take the farm bill back to the drawing board. In a report entitled, "Ten Reasons To Veto The Farm Bill", the Washington based conservative think tank charts out the costs of the proposed farm bill to the average American household, and the figures are staggering. Factoring in subsidies, decreased market competition and other factors, the foundation is saying the current legislation, which most observers agree is a notorious capitulation to corporate agribusiness, will leave the average household with $4,377 less per year. The Foundation arrives at these figures through a series of calculations they say shows the proposed "farm bill's combined cost in taxes and higher food prices will be approximately $462 billion over 10 years -- which is more than the federal government will spend on education and environmental protection combined."

Ed. note: The link we found to this article is broken. If you would like a copy forwarded send an email to sjohnson@defenders.org

2. STRANGER THAN FICTION: BUSH SPENDS RENEWABLE FUNDS ON ENERGY PLAN

We had to check the byline to make sure it wasn't April Fool's Day: Reuters reported on April 2 that the Bush Administration tapped into the solar and renewable energy and energy conservation budgets to pay for the printing of the 170-page, fossil fuel-based, Energy Plan released last May. Documents released by the Energy Department last week in response to a lawsuit from Judicial Watch and the National Resources Defense Council indicate that the Administration took $136,932 from the solar and sustainable energy budget to pay for 10,000 copies of the energy plan and 16 briefing boards used in presentations of the plan. By contrast, the Administration used a mere $100 from the fossil fuel program to pay for travel costs related to production of the plan.

3. CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY ADDRESSES FARMER ISSUES

The Convention on Biological Diversity is an international treaty in which most of the world's governments agree to protect biodiversity for future generations. The parties to the treaty and other interested observers will meet April 7-19 at The Hague, Netherlands. This year's conference will explore, among other issues, the importance of biological diversity to farmers and food production. Issues to be discussed at the meeting include conservation of pollinators; invasive alien species that threaten crops and livestock as well as native vegetation; fair access to genetic resources such as crop strains; and development of a global strategy to conserve plant diversity. The United States will have observers at the Conference of Parties, but will not have formal say in proceedings: the US is one of only 10 countries in the world that hasn't ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity (a distinction we share with Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzigovina, Brunei, Kuwait, Somalia, Thailand, Tuvalu, the Vatican, and Iraq).

In response to the Iowa Farm Bureau's efforts to kill a state bill that would "reasonably regulate" factory animal farms, the Des Moines Register Editorial Board is calling the Farm Bureau "shameless." (March 31). The editorial board writes that "Neighbors are sick of the stink of big hog lots and worried about risk to their health. Proposals for new livestock facilities are fought tooth and nail in some communities because of fears that property values will fall or that tourism will be driven away. Fish kills from manure spills are too frequent. Routine runoff from fields steadily poisons rivers and lakes.... Yet the Farm Bureau likes things just the way they are." 

The bill under attack proposes to study air born pollutants, require phosphorus levels be considered along side nitrogen in field applications and require large feedlot owners share the costs of routine inspections. The editors close by saying, "The organization (farm bureau) is behaving like a bully who thinks his friends have turned on him, when in fact all they're trying to do is be fair to everyone." The Iowa Farm Bureau was featured last year in a scathing CBS "60 Minutes" expose by Mike Wallace. To learn more about the Farm Bureau visit familyfarmer.org/sections/meet.html.

To read this editorial go to: http://desmoinesregister.com/news/stories/c5917686/17739176.html