Category: News & Opinion

What Rep. Mike Johnson’s Rise to Speaker Means for Our Climate

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ClimateDemocracyNews & Opinion

Mike Johnson photo CC-BY-SA 2.0, Gage Skidmore, Flickr
by Mia DiFelice

This past fall, amid growing climate chaos, chaos within the Republican Party reached fever pitch. Internal dysfunction nearly ground our government to a halt, entangling must-pass spending bills. An eleventh-hour deal by then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy sent the GOP into a tailspin, and the Party booted McCarthy from leadership. Then, to elect a new Speaker, it went through three weeks of infighting and three failed nominees before finally settling on Rep. Mike Johnson.

Johnson’s rise to Speakership represents the rise of a far-right wing of an already right-wing party. It’s also a terrible sign for our food, water, climate, and democracy. Johnson is a climate denier, an election denier, and firmly in the pockets of Big Oil and Big Agribusiness.

But Johnson is no outlier — he was unanimously elected by House Republicans and embodies the current Republican Party. His election clarifies and highlights all the challenges we face, the dire state of politics, and the urgency of electing Democrats and progressives in this year’s elections. 

Johnson’s Track Record Is Bad News for Climate And Democracy

Despite mountains of evidence and what’s happening in their own backyards, Republican members of Congress continue to undermine climate science and the solutions we need to avoid climate chaos. Rep. Johnson is no exception. 

In 2017, he went on record saying, “The climate is changing, but the question is, is it being caused by natural cycles over the span of the Earth’s history? Or is it changing because we drive SUVs? I don’t believe in the latter. I don’t think that’s the primary driver.” 

With his climate skepticism, Johnson brushes aside the experiences of his own constituents; Louisianans are facing unprecedented, climate-fueled floods, heat, and wildfires. This is part of the GOP’s wider trend toward politicizing and discounting the climate crisis, instead of tackling it as an existential threat for everyone.

Given this, Johnson’s voting record comes as no surprise. Since becoming a representative in 2016, he has served as a staunch ally to the oil and gas industry. In 2022, he received a 100% approval score from the pro-fossil fuel American Energy Alliance. Johnson’s record also includes opposing regulations on toxic PFAS “forever chemicals,” slashing funding for the Environmental Protection Agency, and much more. Additionally, as chair of the Republican Study Committee, he railed against the Green New Deal and sponsored an anti-Green New Deal resolution. 

Climate change isn’t the only thing Johnson’s denied. He’s also a prominent figure among Congressional election deniers. In November 2020, he urged Trump to “exhaust every available legal remedy” to overturn the outcome of the election. Then, he voted against certifying President Biden’s win in the electoral college.

His election to Speaker is a disturbing sign of what Congressional Republicans support — with chilling implications for 2024’s presidential election.

Johnson Is a Textbook Case of Corporate Capture

Rep. Johnson’s record on energy and climate makes even more sense once you see his main donors. Over his past seven years in the House, he’s received more money from oil and gas than any other industry, taking more than $300,000 in donations. He’s also received over $180,000 from Big Ag throughout his tenure. 

Polluting corporations have Mike Johnson snugly in their pockets. In fact, the oil industry cheered on his Speakership. It knows it can count on Johnson to keep their interests central for the entire Republican caucus.

And he’s far from the only Congressmember taking corporate cash. From 2021-22, the oil and gas sector alone donated more than $30.9 million to Congress, with $24.6 million going to Republicans.

Mike Johnson is a shining example of how corporate dollars have corrupted our political process. As a result, many of our elected leaders would rather put profits over their constituents.

We Know What Johnson Wants for Congress, and It Isn’t Pretty

In his previous term, Mike Johnson served as chair of the conservative Republican Study Committee. During that time, he helmed a 300-page playbook for a Republican-majority Congress.

This “playbook” included several initiatives that threaten climate action and environmental protections. Notably, it suggested changes to the National Emergencies Act that would prevent President Biden from declaring a national climate emergency. This would block the possibility of one of the strongest policy tools we have to address climate change. (With an emergency, Biden could use executive powers to severely cut fossil fuel production and ramp up clean energy.)

In the same document, Johnson and the Republican Study Committee advocate for gutting the National Environmental Policy Act. This bedrock environmental law mandates environmental review and community engagement processes for potentially harmful projects. Johnson may angle to alter NEPA in budget negotiations this year.

Already, under Johnson’s leadership, the House passed a bill that would cut $5 to $6 billion in funding for renewables and home electrification rebates. The bill also includes bans on funding for several of the Biden administration’s environmental justice initiatives.

It’s unlikely to pass into law; but with bills like this one, Johnson and the GOP are staking their positions and goals as budget negotiations continue.

What This Means for the GOP and 2024 Elections

Mike Johnson not only bodes ill for the current Congress and budget negotiations — his unanimous election to House leadership is a weather vane for the winds of the whole GOP. In the words of Mitch Jones, Food & Water Action’s Deputy Director:

“In lining up behind Mike Johnson, House Republicans have uniformly embraced his dystopian vision and made it clear they are only interested in tearing things down — things like our fundamental clean air, clean water and public health safeguards.”

With House Republicans veering harder right than ever, the 2024 elections are more important than ever. We need to elect Democrats and defend against Republican extremism in races across the country. 

Food & Water Action has already endorsed two great candidates, and we’re gearing up to work on even more races across the country. We’ll be going door to door, making phone calls, and writing postcards to voters. It’s critical that we elect bold progressive climate champions and wrest control of the House from Johnson and his band of corporate cronies. 

Johnson’s record underscores the importance of organizing ahead of 2024. We face candidates across the country who refuse to prioritize our health, safety, environment, climate, and futures. But as we’ve seen in recent victories, we have the power to elect climate champions. We can fight corporate interests at the polls and win. And with your help, that’s just what we’ll be doing in 2024. 

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The Next Big Climate Fight: CP2 and Liquefied Natural Gas

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ClimateNews & Opinion

by Mia DiFelice

Last year, the Biden administration faced major blowback for approving the Willow drilling project. It was widely decried as a carbon bomb, set off at a time of growing climate chaos. But Willow pales in comparison to CP2, a gas export facility proposed for the coast of Louisiana. CP2, currently awaiting final approvals from the Biden administration, will have 20 times the climate impact of Willow.

Biden has the power to stop CP2 and dozens of other planned export projects. In refusing to do so so far, the administration is choosing corporate profits and climate chaos over the American people. 

CP2 and LNG Poses a Monumental Threat to a Livable Climate

CP2 is part of a gold rush around the liquefied natural gas (LNG) export industry, which only began recently. After decades of exporting near-zero oil and gas, the U.S. has become the world’s top LNG exporter in a few short years. This growth has been driven and buoyed by a boom in LNG facilities that promise dangerous climate impacts.

The LNG industry cools fracked gas to a liquid form and ships it overseas. This creates a long supply chain that makes LNG at least 24% worse for the climate than coal, even in the best-case scenarios. Moreover, LNG creates new markets for fracked gas and drives the drilling of more wells.

The CP2 facility, running at full volume, would have the same impact as adding 197 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every year. And if Biden continues approving proposed projects in the Gulf Coast, they would emit an estimated 3.2 billion tons of greenhouse gasses each year.

To make matters worse, companies buy and sell LNG under long-term contracts, and infrastructure will last for decades. CP2’s owner, Global Ventures, has asked the Biden administration for a permit to operate until 2050. LNG threatens to lock us into decades of more pollution and climate-wrecking emissions.

CP2 Threatens the Public Health of Nearby Communities

The LNG boom has already hit the Gulf Coast hard. New export facilities have plagued the region with hazardous air pollution, ruined environments, and constant fears of explosion.

In fact, CP2 is the second Venture Global LNG terminal proposed for Cameron Parish, Louisiana. It will sit beside the first, Calcasieu Pass, which began operating in 2022. But Calcasieu Pass has been rife with malfunctions, including ones that expose its neighbors to dangerous pollution. In just a year, Calcasieu Pass exceeded its air permit limits over 2,000 times.

On top of the air pollution, the concentration of gas facilities puts nearby towns at great risk of catastrophic accidents. Four of the five LNG export terminals on the Gulf Coast have seen a leak or blast. Cracks in pipes and other malfunctions have been disturbingly common.

Unfortunately, this is nothing new for the region. Polluting industries have long set up shop in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, with horrible consequences for their neighbors. Now and historically, Black and low-income communities disproportionately bear the brunt of the impacts.

Biden’s environmental justice policies — including a much-touted executive order — were supposed to protect these communities. His support for LNG severely undermines these goals and clears the way for more harm.

LNG Industry Prizes Profits Over Families

Along with climate, health, and environmental justice impacts, LNG will also hurt families in their wallets. On the local level (besides the high costs of health impacts), CP2 threatens the livelihoods of shrimpers and fishers. That’s because export facilities require dredging, which ruins local waterways and ecosystems.

LNG’s growth also contributes to nationwide inflation and the rising cost of living. While many families have to choose between buying food and medicine or paying their energy bills, growing LNG exports raise home energy costs because they squeeze domestic gas supplies.

Meanwhile, the LNG industry is raking in cash. U.S. LNG exports have doubled in the past four years and are projected to nearly double again in the next four. And as the gas export industry exploded, U.S. LNG companies profited handsomely. Local communities, environments, families nationwide, and our climate are all paying the price.

Biden Can and Must Stop CP2 and All LNG

The case against CP2 and LNG is obvious. Nevertheless, the Biden administration has greenlit every single LNG export project that has come its way. But right now, the administration has a golden opportunity to reverse course.

CP2 is facing its final permitting hurdles with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy. So far, federal processes to evaluate LNG have failed to account for its outsized harms. The Biden administration can change this, deny CP2, and set a powerful precedent for future LNG proposals. 

The science is clear. CP2 and the entire LNG industry will be disastrous for the climate, and for our chances at a livable future for all. Biden must stop this and all LNG projects.

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Big Oil and Gas’s Dangerous Plan to Keep Us Hooked on Fossil Fuels

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ClimateNews & Opinion

by Mia DiFelice

A record-breaking summer of heat waves, wildfires, floods, and other disasters has underscored our urgent need for climate action. But rather than make the changes we need, Big Oil and Gas are pushing technology that will prolong the status quo. To add insult to injury, the industry will spend billions of our taxpayer dollars and endanger our health and safety in the process. 

Carbon capture and storage technology aims to take carbon emissions from polluting industries or out of the air itself and store them deep underground. We know this is a climate scam, yet boosters are cynically pushing it as a climate “savior.” They know it will allow them to pollute our planet for decades to come.

Big Ag is in on it, too. It’s proposed thousands of miles of pipelines carrying captured carbon. These pipelines would cut through farms and rural communities to prop up the ethanol industry.

We can’t let them get away with it. The safety of our communities and the future of our planet depends on it. So for the past year, Food & Water Action has mobilized around this issue. We’re calling on Congress to oppose carbon capture funding, and we’re urging President Biden to reverse course and stop supporting Big Oil and Gas’s carbon capture scam.

Big Oil and Gas Has Gathered Support for Carbon Capture

Many of our leaders and lawmakers are following the fossil fuel industry’s lead. In recent decades, they’ve shelled out tens of billions of taxpayer dollars to try and develop carbon capture.

But these efforts have a track record of failure. In fact, carbon capture projects in the U.S. have emitted more climate pollution than they’ve captured. Nevertheless, in the past few years, the federal government has sent billions more in federal subsidies to carbon capture. 

To make matters worse, these programs are ripe for fraud. There are few measures to ensure that companies are actually capturing the carbon they claim. And there is overwhelming evidence that they are not. In an especially egregious example, the Department of Energy wasted $300 million on four carbon capture facilities that were never built.

Corporations Are Barreling Forward Despite the Dangers

Not only is carbon capture wasting our money; companies are bowling forward with projects without the safety regulations we need. Now, carbon capture projects and their related infrastructure (including as many as 65,000 miles of new pipelines) threaten communities across the country.

Crucially, U.S. pipeline regulations aren’t strong enough to protect communities from captured carbon dioxide. Accidents, like the 2020 carbon pipeline rupture in Satartia, Mississippi, would be disastrous. 
That incident hospitalized dozens of people, many of whom are suffering lasting injuries. Moreover, it showed just how much we don’t know about carbon pipelines, how to prevent accidents, or how to respond to them. 

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is drafting regulations for carbon pipelines. However, drafts of these rules likely won’t be released until early next year, and companies are moving fast to avoid tighter regulations. 

Congress can strengthen CO2 pipeline rules through the reauthorization of PHMSA, which expired this year. But general dysfunction — including House leadership fights and right-wing extremists calling for government shutdowns — has delayed this. It now looks like PHMSA reauthorization might not happen until sometime next year. 

Tell your representative: Protect our communities and stop carbon pipelines!

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Our Leaders and Lawmakers Can Help Stop the Buildouts

Big Oil and Gas and its backers are trying to cash in on carbon capture as quickly as possible. We’ve got to slow them down by strengthening the public and political opposition.

That includes engaging with lawmakers to push for stronger rules in the PHMSA reauthorization and pressuring President Biden. With an executive order, he can stop carbon pipelines and infrastructure until PHMSA finalizes its updated safety guidelines. 

We’ve joined allied organizations and allies in Congress to gather support for a carbon pipeline moratorium. This fall, we’ve endorsed a letter released by Representatives Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Jesús “Chuy” García (D-IL), and a dozen more Congressmembers calling on President Biden to declare a moratorium.

At the same time, we need to stop the deluge of taxpayer dollars flowing to carbon capture. This issue is even more pressing in light of the current budget battles going on in Congress. 

As lawmakers negotiate spending for the coming year, some are suggesting huge cuts to social, health, and environmental programs and agencies. Yet, Congress is willing to send huge giveaways to the fossil fuel industry through carbon capture subsidies.

Our taxes shouldn’t be funding climate scams. They should be supporting the renewable energy transition we need to stave off the worst of the climate crisis. 

Join Food & Water Action in Fighting Carbon Capture

Food & Water Action has been working with members and allies to make our demands heard. So far, our volunteers have sent hundreds of calls directly to President Biden, demanding a moratorium on carbon pipelines. We’ve also delivered dozens of letters to representatives, calling on them to stop funding carbon capture and support a moratorium on carbon capture infrastructure like pipelines.

We’ll continue this work until Congress and Biden respond. The urgency of the climate crisis underscores the need for investments in real solutions. That means renewable energy, batteries, and energy efficiency — not Big Oil and Gas’s scams.

We’re gathering a new team of volunteers to build power around the biggest climate issues of our time. From calling on Biden to declare a climate emergency, to stopping carbon capture, you can help us fight for a livable future!

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The Not-So-Secret Republican Plan to Destroy Our Climate Future

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ClimateNews & Opinion

by Peter Hart

It’s fair to say that President Biden has been a disappointment in confronting the climate crisis — especially given his record of approving new fossil fuel projects. But the policies championed by the Republican Party are a stark reminder of how much worse things could get if they prevail in the 2024 elections.  

This was underscored by a debate between GOP presidential hopefuls, which included an upsetting display of climate denialism. Nearly all of the contenders refused to even acknowledge the science of human-caused climate change, and they were united in their calls to increase drilling and fracking. 

Despite the rising pitch of the crisis, climate deniers and Big Oil’s cronies dominate the Republican Party. They’re threatening to plunge us deeper toward climate chaos and tear down vital health and environmental protections.

And their plans are not exactly a secret — making the stakes of the next election crystal clear.

Republicans’ Abysmal Stance on Climate, Brought to You By Big Oil

Republican leaders would rather see polluters profit than listen to science and many of their constituents. August’s presidential debate emphasized as much.

The moderator asked candidates to raise their hands if they believed in human-caused climate change, and (perhaps) one candidate did (albeit briefly). Candidates took the opportunity to deflect, downplay, and even declare the “climate change agenda” a hoax. And they were united in their support for more fracking and drilling as part of an “energy dominance” agenda.

That’s no surprise when Republicans are receiving huge contributions from fossil fuel corporations. So far this year, fossil fuel donors sent $4 million to two Congressional Republican super PACs. This follows tens of millions of dollars donated ahead of the 2022 midterms — on top of the many millions they send to individual candidates each year.

All this is paying off handsomely for Big Oil and other dirty industries. Just two months after gaining control of the House in 2023, Congressional Republicans introduced dozens of bills endangering our environment and our climate. These bills aimed to gut environmental protections, slow climate action and infrastructure, and encourage more oil and gas production. 

In March, House Republicans passed a huge energy bill that would clear the way for even more drilling, refineries, and pipelines. While the bill was dead-on-arrival in the Senate, it’s a major indicator of Republican priorities: doubling down on dirty energy.

The Republican Climate Plan Is a 900-Page Nightmare  

Right now, House Republicans are quietly adding anti-climate provisions to spending bills — a dozen so far, according to The Lever. Fossil fuel-backed lawmakers are trying to stop the administration from spending money on climate action.

Their measures would block research on how climate change impacts the fishing industry, eliminate a National Science Foundation climate program, and end funding for a variety of international climate programs.

Supporters of these legislative maneuvers intend to create short-term headaches. They have little chance of actually passing, as spending bill negotiations move ahead with the Senate.

But the more substantial version of the Republican climate plan — which is nothing short of a nightmare — comes in the form of something called Project 2025. 

Project 2025 is a 900-page blueprint for a Republican president’s presumptive first 180 days in office. The plan was crafted by former Trump officials and a right-wing think tank linked to notorious oil baron Charles Koch.

If carried out, Project 2025 would:

  • Halt efforts to expand the country’s power grid to accommodate new clean energy; 
  • Cut funding for government agencies working on environmental justice and renewable energy;
  • Call for granting more regulatory powers to state officials, allowing Republican states to weaken or toss protections;
  • Block states from adopting standards to reduce car pollution; and
  • Fully repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, while giving an additional boost to fossil fuel drilling and exploration. 

Project 2025 aims to shift the federal government away from protecting our public health or environment and toward smoothing the path for polluting industries to grow. It may even challenge the very notion that federal agencies can do anything at all to reduce climate pollution.

Their “Battle Plan” Must Be a Call to Action

Though Project 2025 is bad enough on its own, Republican frontrunners may have even more in mind. For instance, Donald Trump recently mused about the need to rein in an array of independent government agencies — a list that would include the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission FERC). 

While that agency has been historically very friendly to fossil fuel interests, Trump’s obvious intent is to make it even more so. Even observers who doubt Trump’s ploy would be successful are worried about the chilling effect it may have on FERC.

Broadly speaking, Republican climate plans are about sending a clear message. The director of Project 2025 is not exactly subtle about their goals — as he told Politico, “We are writing a battle plan, and we are marshaling our forces.” 

That much is clear. The task for the rest of us — who want a livable future for ourselves, our communities, and the planet — is to make sure they lose. 

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How a Single Bill Could Wreak Havoc on Our Food System

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FoodNews & Opinion

Photo CC-BY FARMWATCH_FLKR
by Mia DiFelice and Rebecca Wolf

This past spring, the Supreme Court affirmed a huge win for state authority to regulate agricultural goods. It upheld a California law that only allows the sale of pork, veal, and eggs from animals raised in improved living conditions.

But Big Ag and its cronies in Congress couldn’t let this go without a fight. In June, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) introduced a bill called the “Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act.”

The EATS Act would stop many states’ regulations on agriculture and effectively deregulate the industry across the country. Everything from worker protections to food safety measures is now under attack. What’s more, deregulation promises to open the gates for Big Ag to get bigger, by giving it free rein to use the cheapest, most destructive practices it can.

Big Ag Has Its Hands All Over EATS

California’s Prop 12 requires that eggs, pork, or veal sold in the state must come from animals raised under certain conditions, like larger cages for birthing pigs. Californians were clearly in favor, with 60% in support of the law. In response, the pork industry took Prop 12 to federal court, claiming that it violated the Constitution. 

The National Pork Producers Council argued that the law interfered with interstate trade by affecting pork production outside of California. However, the Court ruled in favor of Prop 12.

In arguing against Prop 12, Big Ag once again showed its hand — it will stop at nothing to gain even more control over how food in the U.S. is produced, in this case by tearing down state regulations. This isn’t the first time Big Ag has tried to push dangerous policies like EATS. 

In 2018, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) introduced what is informally known as the “King Amendment” for consideration in that year’s Farm Bill. (He also tried to pass a similar bill in the 2014 Farm Bill.) 

The King Amendment was nearly identical to today’s EATS Act and a huge gift to Big Ag. That was no surprise; Rep. King’s home state of Iowa has the largest number of pigs and chickens in the country. Almost all of them are raised on factory farms.

Now, the EATS Act enjoys the support of Big Ag lobbying organizations like the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the National Pork Producers Council, and the Farm Bureau.

The Overreaching Implications of EATS

While Prop 12 galvanized industry and built momentum for a bill like EATS, EATS’ influence would extend far beyond California. 

It would strip states of their right to regulate agricultural products sold within their borders, as it says that if there’s no federal standard, the states can’t make their own.

The approach is “lowest common denominator.” If just one state in the country allows the sale of goods made with a certain practice, every state would have to, no matter how hazardous, destructive, or inhumane the practice may be.

The range of laws that the EATS Act would affect is ridiculously, dangerously broad. The bill broadly implicates “preharvest production,” which could include regulations like:

  • Limits on what tools or chemicals farmers can use on their farms
  • Labor laws that protect workers or prevent child labor
  • Laws that restrict what chemicals can go into baby formula
  • Measures that prevent or contain diseases like bird flu

This poses a huge threat to our entire food system. For example, in Iowa, people cannot bring birds exposed to infectious diseases into the state without veterinary approval. EATS would endanger this law in the middle of a bird flu epidemic that has led to the deaths of nearly 60 million birds.

EATS also defines “agricultural products” so broadly that it could include everything from vaccines to vitamins. In total, the bill could nullify over a thousand state laws.

For years, states have been empowered to enact stronger food and agriculture protections than federal law and carry them out on their terms. But if EATS were passed, states would effectively deregulate the agricultural industry. It would allow Big Ag to use even cheaper, more destructive, and more harmful practices in more places.

The Political Game of EATS in the Farm Bill

As with the King Amendment, extremist politicians will likely push for EATS language in this year’s Farm Bill. And while passing the bill itself would be unlikely, using EATS as an opening move would tip negotiations closer to chaos. This is a terrible show of bad-faith bargaining.

What’s more, it’s deeply hypocritical. The EATS Act contradicts Republican calls for states’ rights. It denies states the ability to protect their citizens with regulations on what gets sold within their borders.

The Act also flies in the face of historical bipartisan collaboration on competition measures. Far from “ending trade suppression” between states, the EATS Act just helps Big Ag get bigger. Deregulation will allow Big Ag to pursue even more cost-cutting measures than it already does. This will in turn hasten corporate consolidation in the name of profit. 

That doesn’t sound like competition to us.

We Must Keep EATS From Passing

The EATS Act is infuriating but not surprising. It’s the latest of many examples of lawmakers bending to Big Ag over the well-being of their own constituents. EATS would gut critical state protections against the whims of powerful ag interests — the same interests already wreaking havoc on local environments, economies, and food systems. 

Even the introduction of the act shows that extreme right-wing politicians are sinking to new lows, throwing out good-faith negotiations. If it passes, EATS would threaten a variety of vital regulations and cut off a crucial avenue for reining in Big Ag. We need to ensure that this bill dies in Congress.

Call on your Congress members to say “No” to the EATS Act!

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How Food & Water Action is Fighting For a Fair Farm Bill For All

Categories

FoodNews & Opinion

by Mia DiFelice and Katy Kiefer

Update (November 16, 2023): This month, Congress extended the deadline for the 2023 Farm Bill to September 30, 2024 as part of a continuing resolution to push back deadlines on must-pass spending bills. In the next 10 months, Food & Water Action will continue building support for a fair Farm Bill for all.

Decades of bad farm policy have made our food system unsustainable — for farmers, for rural communities, for families across the country, and for the planet. But this year, we have an exciting twice-in-a-decade opportunity to reshape that policy. 

The Farm Bill passes through Congress every five years, disbursing billions of dollars for nutrition and agricultural programs. As lawmakers negotiate the 2023 Farm Bill this summer and fall, Food & Water Action is seizing the moment. Our volunteers are working hard around the country to rally support in their communities and help us get the food policy we need.

Why We’re Fighting for a Fair Farm Bill

For decades, Big Ag has hijacked the Farm Bill and federal food policy to benefit corporations over families and farmers. 

For example, the Farm Bill has spent billions a year incentivizing harmful agricultural practices instead of supporting small- and medium-sized, sustainable food production. It also provides funds for infrastructure on factory farms that pollute our air and water and threaten our climate. 

Previous Farm Bills have helped Big Ag get bigger by encouraging record profits and rampant market concentration. As a result, a few mega-corporations rack in the cash, hollowing out rural economies and forcing small independent farmers to get big or get out.

A Fair Farm Bill Works for Families and Farmers, Not Big Ag

We need a Farm Bill that works for farmers and families; for local rural communities and everyone at the grocery store. Through this legislation, we can help shake loose corporations’ stranglehold on our food system, fostering good livelihoods, lower food prices, and greater access to healthy food.

Moreover, the Farm Bill could be a powerful tool to help protect our climate, environment, and public health. It could pull support for destructive practices and megacorporations, then direct that funding toward actually sustainable agriculture.

If the Farm Bill is to serve us and not Big Ag, here’s what it needs to do:

  1. Ban factory farms, which wreak havoc on the environment and rural economies; 
  2. End subsidies for factory farm infrastructure, while directing more funds toward sustainable farming practices;
  3. Create a federal farm safety net that protects small from unpredictable markets;
  4. Break up mega-corporations and stop consolidation; and
  5. Create fair and competitive markets where small- and mid-sized farms can thrive.

Bringing the Farm Bill to Our Communities

As lawmakers negotiate on the farm bill, they need to hear from constituents. That’s why this year, Food & Water Action volunteers across the country are bringing the Farm Bill to their communities. 

We’re tabling at farmers’ markets and other local events. We’re educating neighbors about the Farm Bill and gathering petition signatures to send to lawmakers. And this fall, we’ll meet with legislators to deliver signatures and speak with them about the farm policy we really need.

Katie Olsson has served as a volunteer leader with Food & Water Action for the past year. This summer, she’s joining our Fair Farm Bill Action Team in Michigan, and she shared a bit about what she’s learned with us.

“I can speak about agriculture and the Farm Bill much more intelligently than I could a few months ago and can confidently share that information with others. It has been fun going to farmers’ markets and collecting signatures, too!”

Katie Olsson, FWA Volunteer Leader

Through her work on the team, Katie has learned about the importance of the Farm Bill and how her own state’s senator helped to pass measures supporting small farmers in the 2018 Farm Bill. 

“I have also learned how bad Big Ag is on so many levels and how important small and particularly indigenous farmers are on all those levels,” Katie said. “Small and indigenous farmers care for the earth. Big Ag destroys it!”

Food & Water Action organizer John Aspray tables at a vegan market in Des Moines, Iowa.

A Fair Farm Bill Benefits All of Us

Kathy in Nyack, NY, is a public health nutritionist who has kept her pulse on food policy for years. Since joining the Farm Bill Action Team in June, she’s collected more than 900 petition signatures.

Kathy became interested in food policy thanks to her work and her concerns about the environmental impact of factory farming. But she emphasized that the Farm Bill is important for everyone. It touches so many parts of our food system and, as Kathy said, “We all eat!” 

“So food is a good way to reach people,” she went on. “And that’s what we’re trying to do — reach people and educate people about the food they are eating.” 

A fair Farm Bill would help us ensure the food we eat is affordable, healthy, and supportive of small farmers and rural economies. And it’s not too late to join our fight for it!

Get involved with our Fair Farm Bill Action Team!

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