Colorado is blessed with natural resources vital to renewable energy development. Whether it is bright sunlight, strong and consistent winds, or abundant supplies of biomass from agriculture and forestry, Colorado can reap the benefits of the new energy economy. Our abundant natural resources are supported by thriving research and development network, including the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, outside of Denver. Colorado has the resources, the know-how, and even the workforce we need to meet our ever-growing demand for energy. Rural America is where the need for new jobs is most acute, and rural Colorado is no exception. Renewable energy development can put rural Americans to work.

But that won’t happen unless the Farm Bill continues to promote renewable energy development. Renewable energy depends upon developing energy resources on our rural lands, and the Farm Bill plays a major role in those efforts. What we call “the Farm Bill” is the primary federal support for our nation’s agricultural productivity, but the bulk of the bill funds food support programs for the disadvantaged, and it also provides programs to ensure national energy security. Today the farm bill is under threat of significant cuts, and renewable energy programs, a small but vital part, are particularly targeted.

The Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) could lose its funding. REAP provides grants and loan guarantees to farmers and rural communities for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Every state has rural areas rich in renewable resources, and REAP guarantees bring development projects within reach. REAP projects in every state are creating jobs in rural America, contributing to U.S. energy security, and promoting new markets for agriculture.

Two other vital programs are the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) and the Biorefinery Assistance Program. BCAP encourages farmers to grow dedicated energy crops, and the Biorefinery Assistance Program provides grants and loan guarantees for the construction of advanced biorefineries. Biomass energy has tremendous potential, especially in Colorado. Today, the main biomass feedstocks for power are paper mill residue, lumber mill scrap, and municipal waste. Agricultural residues such as corn stalks, leaves, and husks show great promise, as do crops like perennial grasses and algae. BCAP and the Biorefinery Assistance Program are vital to continued development of this technology.

With a robust energy title in the next farm bill, Congress can help farmers and others in rural America become more energy efficient and more profitable. Congress can ensure that we develop new markets for agricultural and forestry producers. With federal support, farmers and ranchers can continue to make a vital contribution to our food and energy needs, which are crucial to national security. These are all goals worth achieving even in tough economic times.

Farmers and ranchers understand the importance of a balanced budget. But it’s a false economy to cut programs that will lead to significant economic growth. Renewable energy is a rapidly growing industry. We should not handicap our country’s economic growth by cutting vital farm bill energy programs such as REAP, BCAP and Biorefinery Assistance.

As Congress searches for budget savings, please take a moment to tell your representatives that you support the energy title in the Farm Bill.

At 3 p.m on November 17, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union will host a public meeting at Cheyenne Little America to examine the problem of creating transmission corridors to deliver renewable energy to customers eager for this clean energy.

The panel will be moderated by former PUC commissioner Ron Lehr. Speakers include Craig Knoell (Transmission Infrastructure Manager for the Western Area Power Administration), Loyd Drain (Executive Director of the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority), Brent Orr (President, Cornerstone Transco) and RMFU Director of Renewable Energy Development Bill Midcap.

The panel will look at obstacles and challenges to corridor development. It will offer a new model for cooperative corridor development that includes landowners in the research and development process, provides those in the corridor with fair compensation for the use of their property, and promises to facilitate the build-out necessary if we are to shift our energy use to clean, renewable sources.

Craig Knoell will provide an update on WAPA’s existing transmission infrastructure plan, and Loyd Drain will discuss implications of transmission issues in Wyoming. Bill Midcap will introduce an RMFU white paper on landowner alliances to facilitate corridor development through collective bargaining and annual payments for corridor easements. Brent Orr will discuss his experiences putting into action the ideas presented in the white paper.

The white paper (click for PDF), prepared by the RMFU Foundation’s Renewable Energy Development Center, will be distributed at the panel, which will begin at 3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17. This event is open to the public.

As part of a three-day legislative visit coordinated by National Farmers Union, members of Rocky Mountain Farmers Union met with Interior Secretary Salazar today in Washington, D.C. The group presented Salazar with a banner carried in the Manassa Pioneer Days parade to recognize his commitment to addressing national problems without causing local ones. Secretary Salazar’s family roots are in Manassa, with many generations of farming in Colorado’s San Luis Valley.

As the Interior Department prepares to update a key federal plan for developing solar projects on public lands in six Western states, RMFU members urged the Secretary to protect traditional land uses, natural resources, and rural families. They provided the Secretary with their on-the-ground perspective about the importance of siting solar plants and transmission lines in a way that will serve local communities, protect the public lands and sustain the region’s agricultural economy and natural heritage.

“Our members support responsible solar development in the San Luis Valley and throughout the West,” Midcap said. “Solar farms are spreading across the country, and many more will be developed in the near future. The Secretary’s personal leadership is the key to ensuring that solar energy is developed in a directed and responsible way.”

Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, which represents family farming and ranching in Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming, has been a leader in rural renewable energy development for many years.

RMFU President Kent Peppler praised Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar’s announcement today that Interior will look closely at water issues and agricultural impacts as the discussion of oil shale development moves forward. “Secretary Salazar described water use as an essential issue in the oil shale debate, and we couldn’t agree more,” Peppler said. “Most of the oil shale lands are on the Colorado River basin, which has been over-allocated from the beginning of the interstate compact. We need to know how much water oil shale developers need, where they expect to get it, and what condition it will be in when they are through with it. Agriculture is the cornerstone of Colorado’s economy and the basis for America’s food security. The secretary understands this, and we urge him to keep it in his thoughts as we move forward slowly on oil shale development.”

In a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, RMFU President Kent Peppler urged the department to proceed with caution on oil shale development. “The oil companies have been long on promises and short on delivery with oil shale,” Peppler said. “What we do know is that oil shale development will use up scarce water supplies. That’s robbing Peter to pay Paul, and agriculture can’t afford it.”

The letter to the Interior Department points out that 30 years ago, oil companies were claiming that commercial production of oil shale would allow the U.S. to “completely eliminate” imports of oil and gas in the next century, with Exxon estimating a “production level of 15 million barrels per day achieved” by 2010.

Today, that promise has not been fulfilled, and oil shale development is still far from reality. “Given the questions that remain about the impact of oil shale development on local communities and water supplies,” Peppler said, “that is probably a good thing.”

Farmers and ranchers remain concerned that commercial oil shale development could hurt rural communities and agriculture. It’s not clear how much water could be pulled away from agriculture. It’s not clear how much farm and rangeland would be overrun by development. It’s likely that rural communities would be transformed into industrial ghettos by commercial-scale oil shale development operations.

Shell Oil recently stated that its oil shale experiments consume three barrels of water for every barrel of oil produced. If that proportion holds, then producing millions of barrels of oil from shale each day, as they have forecast, could wipe out many farms and ranches across the West and damage or destroy already stressed watersheds like the Colorado River.

Water is the lifeblood of the West. Generations of Coloradoans have said it, in English and in Spanish: “No water, no life.” The letter concludes, “We should not risk our water, our food security, and our regional economic stability for a promise that has not been fulfilled for over 100 years. It is time to move on to more viable forms of energy development, such as wind and solar.” The letter urges the department to look carefully at potential impacts to local water supplies and communities as it studies the impact of oil shale development.

An opinion piece appeared last week in more than one Denver newspaper that attacked Farmers Union for “selling out” agriculture by supporting the amended Clean Energy bill. The piece presents the author’s views and statistics as facts. They are just opinions, not facts, and there are some other facts that should be mentioned as we consider the bill and what it means for agriculture.

Condemning the action by Congress ignores a key fact. The EPA is poised, by order of the Supreme Court, to regulate greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). If a majority in Congress had let the bill disappear into “the shredder,” then farmers could thank its opponents for inviting the EPA to regulate agricultural emissions with no input from agriculture. Thanks to the compromise amendment, we have an opportunity to manage any increased costs to farmers and ranchers. As amended, the bill allows agriculture to have a say in addressing a problem that affects us all.

Farmers Union opposed the bill that came out of Rep. Waxman’s committee because, like so much federal legislation, it failed to take into account the interests and needs of the national community of farmers and ranchers. Through the efforts of Rep. Collin Peterson, Farmers Union, and the National Association of Wheat Growers, the bill was amended to remedy that problem, and we support it because it is the right thing to do. Farmers Union hasn’t sold anyone out, not to the government, not to the boardrooms of corporate agriculture, not to the power companies or partisan political agendas.

A partisan attack group, the Heritage Foundation, tried to alarm consumers and producers with wild estimates of the effect on energy costs. Compelling evidence from a non-partisan entity, the Congressional Budget Office, projects that the costs of electricity, gas and oil will work out to be about $175 per family per year.

What about the cost of sticking our heads in the sand and waiting for problems to go away? That approach doesn’t usually work. Farmers and ranchers, who live agriculture and resource stewardship, understand that there is more to “costs” than dollars on an accounting ledger. Inaction will have serious consequences for the farm, the nation, and the world. If we don’t act, circumstances and consumers will force us to. The Clean Energy bill lets agriculture help solve those problems, rather than bear the brunt for others.

Agriculture has a role to play in addressing those problems. Farmers Union saw to it that this role was reflected in the new bill. Polluting industries will be coming to American farmers for carbon credits to offset their impact on our air and water, using that cap and trade model that got acid rain under control a generation ago. Cap and trade is not nebulous bogeyman; it’s a policy that was endorsed by both Presidential contenders in the 2008 race. Farmers Union has been a leader in creating a carbon credit program that has generated more than $8 million in revenue for farmers and ranchers without government support. With the new cap and trade rules, carbon may well become a major cash crop.

The Clean Energy bill mandates a shift to renewable energy that offers financial benefits to farmers and ranchers. Wind farms will generate electricity for citizens and industry while generating revenue for landowners harvesting the wind. All the forms of renewable energy have the potential to reduce agriculture’s dependence on foreign oil and create new crops for our farmers and ranchers.

Farmers Union recognizes the enormous costs of a petroleum-based agriculture. The average food is shipped 1,500 miles to the consumer, and why is the greatest agriculture nation in the world importing our own food. The emphasis on energy costs will create new markets for local foods produced by small farmers and ranchers. Farmers Union built its history on support for local produce, sustainable farming, and cooperative economies that marry producers to consumer markets.

Addressing America’s energy needs has been a struggle, and we applaud the members of the Colorado delegation in the House who voted for the Clean Energy bill. We are proud of them, and proud of our role in shaping the bill to include agriculture. By being at the bargaining table rather than sulking in the hall, we helped shape a policy that will impact all our lives. Farmers Union improved the energy bill and made our nation’s farmers an active part of our energy future. Our engagement in the process that amended the bill reflects our commitment to protecting the interests of the small minority of our population who grow America’s food. The farmer must make a living wage, or America will find itself dependent on foreign food just as it is on foreign oil. The Clean Energy bill presents us with a chance to keep our food secure.

Kent Peppler, President
Rocky Mountain Farmers Union

In a statement today, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (RMFU) President Kent Peppler expressed support for an appeal to the Environmental Protection Agency for an increase of the ethanol levels permitted in gasoline. “This change will be good for farmers and consumers,” Peppler said. “Taking the permitted level of ethanol from 10% to 15% will decrease our dependence on fossil fuels and foreign sources. It will create more jobs. And it will create a new market for American corn in these tough times for family farmers. We are urging our members to sign on to support Growth Energy’s petition to the EPA before the comment period ends on May 21.”

Increasing ethanol blend levels from 10 to 15 percent will generate $24.4 billion for the U.S. economy. It will also replace seven billion gallons of imported gasoline per year at our current rate of gasoline consumption at the pump. A study by North Dakota State University estimates that the change could create more than 136,000 new green-collar jobs nation-wide. Ethanol use reduces the price of gas by 20-35 cents/gallon, according to Department of Energy estimates, saving the average American household $150-$300/year.

“Corporate interests have tried to tie ethanol to higher food costs,” Peppler said. “The Congressional Budget Office has demonstrated that is pure hokum. Ethanol production impacted the cost of food last summer, when fuel costs peaked, by half a percent. That’s a nickel for every ten dollars you spend at the grocery. The farmers’ share of your food dollar averages about 20 cents.”

According to Growth Energy, corn-based ethanol produces 50 percent less greenhouse gases than gasoline. Their web site states, “Recent improvements in agriculture have increased crop productivity dramatically, providing biofuels with a huge boost without hurting food supplies.”

Peppler summed up RMFU’s position like this: “Ethanol is the only sustainable, domestic fuel that works in the gas engines we already have. It’s what we can do now, and we urge the EPA to step up and help farmers, consumers, the economy and the environment.”

“The Chicago Climate Exchange has announced that carbon credit contracts for prescribed grazing on native rangeland will no longer be eligible for 2003-2007 as possible bonus years as of January 30, 2009,” said Tony Frank, Director of Renewable Energy Development at Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (RMFU). “This means ranchers should sign up right away to get the best deal.”

Farmers Union, which aggregates acreage for CCX, has moved up the deadline for their new rangeland enrollment pool to January 30, 2009. Existing carbon credit enrollments are not affected by this rule change. “Since it takes some time to enroll, ranchers should get started with their enrollment applications as soon as possible and not wait until the end of January,” Frank said.

Carbon storage, or sequestration, helps reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Carbon dioxide traps heat in the atmosphere, causing temperature increases and local changes in climate. Carbon credit programs buy time while long-term answers to pollution are developed.

RMFU’s carbon credit program allows landowners to earn income by storing carbon in their soil. Carbon credits can be earned and sold by conservation tillage, long-term grass seeding practices, native rangeland enhancement, forestry, and with methane capture projects. Companies can buy carbon credits to offset their carbon footprints through this program.

For more information on the carbon credit program go to www.carboncredit.ndfu.org or call 303.752.5800.

Rocky Mountain Farmers Union has signed on as a sponsor for a conference on carbon credit opportunities in Colorado. The conference will be on December 4, 2008, at the Adams County Regional Park (Al Lessor Building) in Brighton, Colorado.

Registration opens at 8:30 a.m. The morning program features ranchers, farmers, and foresters talking about their experiences as carbon sellers. A scientist from the Natural Resources Ecology Lab at CSU will explain measuring carbon in the soil. After lunch, Steve Black from Senator Ken Salazar’s office will discuss the future in legislation to support carbon sequestration. A panel at 2 p.m. featuring representatives from Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Colorado Department of Agriculture and Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, will discuss agriculture carbon credits in Colorado.

The workshop focuses on providing information to potential sellers of carbon credits. This conference will give landowners and producers the information they need to take advantage of this opportunity.

To register on-line, go to www.agritechconsulting.com. For more information, contact Bill Midcap at RMFU: 303.283.3528.

 Denver >> Rocky Mountain Farmers Union Cooperative & Economic Development Center (CDC) Director Ben Rainbolt has hired Bill Midcap to support RMFU’s energy efforts and other rural development opportunities. Midcap has joined RMFU as a rural economic development specialist and cooperative outreach coordinator.

He lives in Fort Morgan, Colorado. He is a lifelong resident of Morgan County, where he owned and operated Midcap Farms for many years. He has also spent many years working with rural electric cooperatives, or REAs. Since 1990 he has served on the board of directors for the Morgan County Rural Electric Association. He has been treasurer of the Colorado Rural Electric Association and on their current board of directors. He has served as a delegate to the Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association and is the chair of the Colorado Electric Education Committee. He has been president of the board of directors for the Mid-West Electric Consumers Association, and an active board member since 1992. Mid-West is a regional coalition of consumer-owned utilities, REAs, public power districts, and municipal electric utilities. They purchase hydropower generated at federal multi-purpose projects in the Missouri River basin.

“We are excited to have Bill’s expertise available to our members, and he will be a great help in coordinating our outreach to the local cooperatives. Bill’s experience with utilities and RMFU’s commitment to renewable energy will make a winning combination,” said Rainbolt.

Midcap will work with individuals, community groups, and electric utilities to encourage development of local renewable energy projects, to determine barriers and solutions for project development, and to conduct rural business development. He will work closely with Tony Frank, the CDC’s director of renewable energy, fostering outreach to rural groups and developing business models to support clean energy development and energy efficiency.