Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has ordered the revision of a forecasting model related to congressional climate legislation that makes the conversion of farmland to forests more lucrative than producing food.
Vilsack was reportedly concerned that the model would reduce the amount of food American farmers produced in the near future, according to The Washington Times.
"According to the economic model used by the department and the Environmental Protection Agency, the legislation would give landowners incentives to convert up to 59 million acres of farmland into forests over the next 40 years. The reason: Trees clean the air of heat-trapping gases better than farming does.
Mr. Vilsack, in a little-noticed statement issued with the report earlier this month, said the department's forecasts "have caused considerable concern" among farmers and ranchers."
Read the full story: Farms-to-forest plan worries Vilsack
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International Effort Needed to Prevent Recurrence of Lake Erie Algal Bloom
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Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
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Nation's most wind-powered state turns to coal as data centers increase energy demand
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Boston has spent millions making the Green Line more accessible — and there’s no end in sight
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Idaho may see an 18% drop in federal surface transit funding — the largest estimated cut in the US
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How ‘post-disaster gentrification’ alters neighborhoods after natural calamities
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Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
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City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello