JEFFERSON CITY, MO - - Cap-and-trade legislation, an attempt to reduce greenhouse gases and slow supposed man-made global warming, is stalled in the U.S. Senate at the moment, but is still a hot issue with America’s farmers and ranchers. “Cap-and-trade is essentially a tax on carbon and would prove devastating to agriculture,” said Missouri Farm Bureau President Charles Kruse, a member of the board of directors of the American Farm Bureau Federation.

“To show just how much opposition there is to this misguided concept, Farm Bureau created a campaign called ‘Don’t CAP Our Future,’ gathering signatures from our members nationwide opposed to cap-and-trade,” Kruse said. “The American Farm Bureau Board of Directors and state Farm Bureau Presidents today shared concerns expressed by farmers and ranchers across the country about cap-and-trade when they hosted members of the U.S. Senate.”

Since the introduction of cap-and-trade legislation, Farm Bureau heard from more than 75,000 members nationwide who are concerned with the higher energy costs and regulations that would result if cap-and-trade legislation becomes law. Farm Bureau collected tens of thousands of signed action cards, petitions, banners and farmer-style baseball caps to express the farmers and ranchers concern with the negative impact cap-and-trade would have on the economic health of U.S. agriculture.

“In Missouri, we had farmers and ranchers signing letters at our Farm Bureau building during the Missouri State Fair, and hundreds more signed during county Farm Bureau annual meetings and at our statewide Missouri Farm Bureau annual meeting in December,” Kruse said. “Similar activity occurred in states all over America,” Kruse said. “People at the grassroots are dead-set against misguided global warming policies that will dramatically increase our already expensive energy supply.”

Kruse said Farm Bureau’s ‘Don’t CAP Our Future’ presentation with members of the U.S. Senate was an important part of the campaign, but not the end of Farm Bureau’s fight against cap-and-trade legislation and the flawed global warming agenda pushed by the Environmental Protection Agency. “Cap-and-trade is extremely serious for Missouri and other Midwest states where we are heavily dependent upon coal for electrical generation,” Kruse said. “Cap-and-trade would not only be devastating to agriculture, but all Missourians will see their energy bills skyrocket if this becomes law.”

Farm Bureau continues to call on Congress and the Obama administration to enact a comprehensive domestic energy plan that will expand nuclear power generation, allow greater access to our own oil and natural gas supplies, and advance research, development and commercialization of alternative and renewable energy technologies.
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