It’s uphill---neg cards are aspirational.

The results of the 2022 midterm elections have many environmental groups bracing for an uphill battle when it comes to climate policy. Even with a razor-thin majority in only one chamber of Congress, House Republicans stand to wield significant influence over key pieces of legislation over the next two years. The changing of the guard in committee leadership brings Democrats to a fork in the road.

The farm bill — which authorizes farm and nutrition programs every five years and is set to expire in September of 2023 — will be a major test of whether climate advocates can chart an effective path forward in a split Congress. Given new Republican headwinds in the House, the Biden administration and Democrats in Congress will need to decide: Will they dig their heels in on making the 2023 Farm Bill a climate bill or pivot to more pragmatic tactics?

The case should be made for the latter.

Many climate activists and environmental groups have spent the last several months calling for Congress to double down on climate and regenerative agriculture — a set of agricultural techniques that promote soil health and sequester carbon — in the next farm bill. However, the new chair of the House Agriculture Committee, Rep. G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.) has plainly stated that the “next farm bill should not be framed as a climate bill.” More explicitly, he vowed to “not prioritize climate over every other resource concern” or “overemphasize climate within the conservation or research titles” of the bill.