Policy Practicum: Harvesting Climate Benefits from Climate-Smart Agricultural & Forestry…

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BACKGROUND. As part of its climate agenda, the Biden Administration is promoting "climate-smart" agricultural and forestry practices that can advance climate goals by sequestering carbon and/or reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. See Executive Order 14008, Section 216(b). Significant funding is being allocated to this effort. The recently-enacted Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) allocates nearly $20 billion to existing U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) conservation programs that are presumed to generate climate benefits. Significantly, however, the IRA conditions the funding upon a Secretarial "determination" that the funds will "directly improve soil carbon, reduce nitrogen losses, or reduce, capture, avoid, or sequester carbon dioxide, methane, or nitrous oxide emissions." Separately, the USDA is moving forward with a $3.5 billion "Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities" program, which will test the proposition that when ag and forestry production practices generate discernable carbon benefits--as certified through an as-yet undefined process--farmers and foresters will be able to command higher market prices. PROBLEM SET. There are no well-defined protocols for how to measure, monitor, report and verify (collectively referred to as "MMRV") climate benefits associated with specific ag and forestry practices. Current survey techniques utilized by the USDA are imprecise, typically involve limited or no field testing and do not take advantage of newly available technologies. Developing solid MMRV muscle could generate multiple benefits, including: (1) providing a stronger rationale for paying farmers and foresters to deploy climate-smart practices; (2) enabling farmers and foresters to collect a market premium for commodities produced using climate-smart practices; and (3) setting sideboards that would improve the credibility of voluntary ag and forestry…