DA - Farm Bill Politics - Michigan 7 2023 BFHGR

Farm Bill DA---BFHGR
Neg
1NC
1NC---Climate
The farm bill will pass and go far enough on climate---PC is key to cobble together enough votes.
Saul Elbein 23, reporter, 3/20/2023, “Five fights brewing in the crucial $1.4 trillion farm bill,” https://thehill.com/policy/future-of-farming/3903800-five-fights-brewing-in-the-crucial-1-4-trillion-farm-bill/
The future of American food production is up for grabs this year.
With the nation’s farm bill expiring this September — along with a wide array of crucial programs that put food on American plates — lawmakers are on the clock to craft a farm bill that can pass the divided Congress.
The House and Senate agriculture committees will hold a series of hearings akin to a large and acrimonious family Thanksgiving: heated debates with everyone united in the desire to fill their plates.
Among the dinner guests: big agriculture lobbyists, farm-to-table advocates, child nutrition groups, conservation organizations, climate change activists, U.S. states seeking support for fighting wildfires, droughts and other disasters — and of course the lawmakers themselves.
Here are the five biggest fault lines shaping up this year, from the upcoming battle over everything from $20 billion in climate funding to the question of what to do with the nation’s animal waste.
How much can we afford?
The biggest hurdle for this year’s farm bill is the same as every other bill moving through the divided Congress: It needs enough votes to pass.
And that will likely require cobbling together votes on both sides of the aisle, which means going far enough on issues like climate change and food benefits to incentivize Democrats without scaring off too many Republicans with the price tag.
“We keep hearing that this needs to be a value-neutral bill — no new moneys,” Vanessa García Polanco, a lobbyist for the Young Farmer’s Coalition, told The Hill.
At the same time, existing federal agriculture dollars aren’t going as far as they used to — eaten up by rising prices for fuel, equipment and fertilizer. To make matters worse, American agriculture has been pounded by years of extreme weather — from floods and tornadoes to wildfires and flash drought — and the aftermath of former President Trump’s trade war with China.
Some Republicans propose to square that circle by cutting SNAP, the food assistance program that accounts for about 80 percent of farm bill spending. On Tuesday, Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) introduced legislation requiring SNAP recipients to work.
But President Biden and Senate Democrats are sure to balk at any significant cuts to SNAP, and the program isn’t the only big-ticket item jostling for funding.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) will join the major commodities lobbies, like the National Corn Growers Association, in pushing for a permanent disaster package: an attempt to end the system of agriculture having to continually seek “ad hoc” disaster declarations.
Wayne Stoskopf, of the National Corn Growers Association, said the commodity groups will argue that such a proactive package would be “more cost-effective and efficient” over time — but that money will still have to be found on the front end.
That gives House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) two paths: try to pass a bill that can pick up 40 Democrats, effectively sidelining the far-right Freedom Caucus, or try to pass a more conservative bill that unites all Republicans, but likely hits a roadblock in the Senate.
Ethan Lane, head lobbyist at the NCBA, thinks that practicality will win out. “The top line focus is a package that can pass,” he said. “Eyes on the prize.”
[INSERT LINK]
Passage enables climate-smart innovation---key to stop runaway warming.
Jasia Smith 23, research associate at the Center for American Progress in domestic climate policy; Drew McConville, senior fellow at CAP; Mariel Lutz, research associate in conservation policy at CAP, 5/23/2023, “Why the Farm Bill May Be the Highest-Stakes Climate Fight Flying Below the Radar,” https://www.americanprogress.org/article/why-the-farm-bill-may-be-the-highest-stakes-climate-fight-flying-below-the-radar/
The stakes are high as Congress begins serious discussions to reauthorize the farm bill, which expires at the end of September 2023. Among other things, this legislation represents a major opportunity to enable private landowners, farmers, ranchers, and rural communities to take action to address the crises of climate change and nature loss.
In fact, in a divided Congress where House majority leadership has staked out an obstructionist position on most climate action, the must-pass farm bill may represent the only meaningful opportunity to make progress on these issues in the 118th Congress. Conversely, if extreme positions prevail and Congress strips away farm bill program investments made in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, America will take a massive step backward on climate, conservation, and rural prosperity.
Scale of the climate and nature opportunity
Farm bill conservation programs represent the largest source of federal funding for private landowners to preserve and steward their lands, waters, and wildlife for current and future generations; yet demand for these programs significantly outpaces supply, and competing pressures are growing.1 Meanwhile, as the climate crisis deepens, farm bill support can enable U.S. agriculture to lead the world in climate-smart innovation, help farmers and ranchers benefit from greenhouse gas-reducing practices, and build cleaner and more reliable energy solutions for rural America.
Climate-smart agriculture represents a crucial front in the fight against climate change. With 10 percent of U.S. emissions coming from the agricultural sector and abundant opportunities to reduce emissions through improved practices and land use, the farm bill’s voluntary incentive programs hold tremendous potential to deliver meaningful gains for farmers and the climate.2 Additionally, a 2021 CAP analysis found that nature loss in the United States is driving the emissions of 140 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMT CO2e) each year.3 However, achieving President Joe Biden’s U.S. land conservation goal has the potential to reverse that trend and yield an additional 215 MMT CO2e stored by nature—as much savings as taking 47 million cars off the road. New farm bill program investments through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) recognize the fundamental link between conservation and climate and direct resources toward practices that achieve conservation, resilience, and greenhouse gas reduction goals, all while supporting rural clean energy solutions that are building more resilient, reliable, and affordable energy systems.
Extinction.
Nathan Sears 21, Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at the University of Toronto, former Professor of International Relations at the Universidad de Las Americas, Trudeau Fellow in Peace, Conflict, and Justice at the Munk School of Global Affairs, “Great Powers, Polarity, and Existential Threats to Humanity: An Analysis of the Distribution of the Forces of Total Destruction in International Security,” Conference Paper for the International Studies Association, p. 1-38
Climate Change
Humanity faces existential risks from the large-scale destruction of Earth’s natural environment making the planet less hospitable for humankind (Wallace-Wells 2019). The decline of some of Earth’s natural systems may already exceed the “planetary boundaries” that represent a “safe operating space for humanity” (Rockstrom et al. 2009). Humanity has become one of the driving forces behind Earth’s climate system (Crutzen 2002). The major anthropogenic drivers of climate change are the burning of fossil fuels (e.g., coal, oil, and gas), combined with the degradation of Earth’s natural systems for absorbing carbon dioxide, such as deforestation for agriculture (e.g., livestock and monocultures) and resource extraction (e.g., mining and oil), and the warming of the oceans (Kump et al. 2003). While humanity has influenced Earth’s climate since at least the Industrial Revolution, the dramatic increase in greenhouse gas emissions since the mid-twentieth century—the “Great Acceleration” (Steffen et al. 2007; 2015; McNeill & Engelke 2016)— is responsible for contemporary climate change, which has reached approximately 1°C above preindustrial levels (IPCC 2018).
Climate change could become an existential threat to humanity if the planet’s climate reaches a “Hothouse Earth” state (Ripple et al. 2020). What are the dangers? There are two mechanisms of climate change that threaten humankind. The direct threat is extreme heat. While human societies possesses some capacity for adaptation and resilience to climate change, the physiological response of humans to heat stress imposes physical limits—with a hard limit at roughly 35°C wet-bulb temperature (Sherwood et al. 2010). A rise in global average temperatures by 3–4°C would increase the risk of heat stress, while 7°C could render some regions uninhabitable, and 11–12°C would leave much of the planet too hot for human habitation (Sherwood et al. 2010). The indirect effects of climate change could include, inter alia, rising sea levels affecting coastal regions (e.g., Miami and Shanghai), or even swallowing entire countries (e.g., Bangladesh and the Maldives); extreme and unpredictable weather and natural disasters (e.g., hurricanes and forest fires); environmental pressures on water and food scarcity (e.g., droughts from less-dispersed rainfall, and lower wheat-yields at higher temperatures); the possible inception of new bacteria and viruses; and, of course, large-scale human migration (World Bank 2012; Wallace-Well 2019; Richards, Lupton & Allywood 2001). While it is difficult to determine the existential implications of extreme environmental conditions, there are historic precedents for the collapse of human societies under environmental pressures (Diamond 2005). Earth’s “big five” mass extinction events have been linked to dramatic shifts in Earth’s climate (Ward 2008; Payne & Clapham 2012; Kolbert 2014; Brannen 2017), and a Hothouse Earth climate would represent terra incognita for humanity.
Thus, the assumption here is that a Hothouse Earth climate could pose an existential threat to the habitability of the planet for humanity (Steffen et al. 2018., 5). At what point could climate change cross the threshold of an existential threat to humankind? The complexity of Earth’s natural systems makes it extremely difficult to give a precise figure (Rockstrom et al. 2009; ). However, much of the concern about climate change is over the danger of crossing “tipping points,” whereby positive feedback loops in Earth’s climate system could lead to potentially irreversible and self-reinforcing “runaway” climate change. For example, the melting of Arctic “permafrost” could produce additional warming, as glacial retreat reduces the refractory effect of the ice and releases huge quantities of methane currently trapped beneath it. A recent study suggests that a “planetary threshold” could exist at global average temperature of 2°C above preindustrial levels (Steffen et al. 2018; also IPCC 2018). Therefore, the analysis here takes the 2°C rise in global average temperatures as representing the lower-boundary of an existential threat to humanity, with higher temperatures increasing the risk of runaway climate change leading to a Hothouse Earth.
The Paris Agreement on Climate Change set the goal of limiting the increase in global average temperatures to “well below” 2°C and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C. If the Paris Agreement goals are met, then nations would likely keep climate change below the threshold of an existential threat to humanity. According to Climate Action Tracker (2020), however, current policies of states are expected to produce global average temperatures of 2.9°C above preindustrial levels by 2100 (range between +2.1 and +3.9°C), while if states succeed in meeting their pledges and targets, global average temperatures are still projected to increase by 2.6°C (range between +2.1 and +3.3°C). Thus, while the Paris Agreements sets a goal that would reduce the existential risk of climate change, the actual policies of states could easily cross the threshold that would constitute an existential threat to humanity (CAT 2020).
Uniqueness
2NC---Uniqueness
Republicans are open to negotiation on climate provisions.
Lisa Held 23, reporter, citing statements by congresspeople, “This Farm Bill Really Matters. We Explain Why,” https://civileats.com/2023/03/20/farm-bill-explainer-2023-bill-snap-nutrition-climate-smart-farming-commodities-insurance-congress/
Some past farm bill cycles have taken years, and some think this one will, too. But many insiders say the evidence points toward swift negotiations and passage. GOP lawmakers typically spend time advocating for cuts to SNAP and stringent work requirements—and that effort has already begun—but newly appointed House Agriculture Chairman G.T. Thompson (R-Pennsylvania) has pushed back on some of his fellow Republicans’ rhetoric and expressed openness to climate-ag programs he once railed against.
Meanwhile, veteran Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow announced that she will not seek reelection next year; with this as her last farm bill cycle, she will likely up the ante on passing a farm bill that cements her legacy.
The farm bill tackles climate change with bipartisan support.
Maxine Joselow 23, reporter, citing Ben Thomas, senior policy director for agriculture at the Environmental Defense Fund and a former deputy undersecretary at USDA, 2/16/2023, “The 2023 farm bill should be a climate bill, Democrats say,” https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/16/2023-farm-bill-should-be-climate-bill-democrats-say/
Don’t look now, but the divided Congress could pass a major climate change bill.
No, it’s not version 2.0 of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Democrats’ sweeping climate and health-care package. Rather, the farm bill — the five-year reauthorization of hundreds of billions of dollars in agriculture and food programs — could help farmers tackle the climate crisis while feeding the nation.
Congress has until the end of September to reauthorize the farm bill, which typically passes with bipartisan support. Already, House Democrats are working to include provisions aimed at helping farmers store more carbon in the soil, plant more trees and become more resilient in the face of extreme weather, Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.) told The Climate 202.
“We’ve already started planning for the farm bill and how to push the policies that are great for farmers, great for soil health and also great for the planet,” said Schrier, who is co-chairing the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition’s Climate and Agriculture Task Force.
The coalition, a group of more than 80 climate-conscious House Democrats, will formally launch the task force today with an eye toward ensuring that the farm bill contains robust climate provisions. (The coalition will launch four other task forces as well, according to details shared exclusively with The Climate 202. More on that below.)
Agriculture accounts for about 11 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, so the sector can play a key role in addressing climate change. To that end, Schrier said climate-friendly provisions in the farm bill could fall into the following three “buckets”:
Sustainable forestry: This involves planting trees and protecting forests from wildfires, pests and diseases. Trees can store massive amounts of carbon dioxide in their trunks, branches, leaves and roots. But when trees burn in wildfires, these climate benefits go up in smoke, too.
Conservation programs: This involves authorizing billions of dollars a year for voluntary programs that help farmers, ranchers and landowners conserve soil, water and wildlife habitat.
Research: This involves funding research at land-grant universities and the Agriculture Department into how climate change is threatening agriculture. For instance, drought conditions and extreme weather wreaked havoc last year on corn, wheat, tomatoes and other crops.
“I think this farm bill could really turn out to be a huge climate win,” Ben Thomas, senior policy director for agriculture at the Environmental Defense Fund and a former deputy undersecretary at USDA, told The Climate 202.
The farm bill will pass now, but it’s close.
Ian Kast 23, writer and video producer for the Michigan Farm Bureau, citing Senate Ag Committee Chairwoman, 5/24/2023, “'We will get one' — Stabenow confident on farm bill, concerned about debt ceiling,” https://www.michiganfarmnews.com/stabenow-confident-on-farm-bill-concerned-about-debt-ceiling
Despite the more-than-challenging circumstances, Senate Ag Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow is confident the farm bill will pass.
“We will get one,” Stabenow told Michigan Farm News during a recent visit to Michigan State University to celebrate its selection as one of 12 USDA Regional Food Business Centers.
“My biggest concern right now is whatever happens on a possible default could create a real devastating effect.”
Among the potential effects of a default are higher interest rates, possible stoppages of USDA programs, and impacts to crop insurance — just to name a few.
“I don’t know what would happen because we’ve never defaulted before, but it’s not good,” Stabenow said. “So, we need to get this past us so that we can get back to the work of putting together a great bipartisan farm bill.”
Stabenow has been involved in six farm bills during her time as a lawmaker — including leading the passage of three farm bills, but this one will be her last. She announced she won’t seek re-election in 2024.
The debt ceiling’s passage removed the final barrier.
Noah Wicks 23, associate editor for AgriPulse, Philip Brasher, executive editor for AgriPulse, 5/31/2023, “House passes bill to increase debt limit, modify SNAP rules,” https://www.agri-pulse.com/articles/19497-house-passes-bill-to-increase-debt-limit-modify-snap-rules
Leaders of the Senate and House Agriculture committees say the bill effectively removes a key barrier to passing a new farm bill by taking the issue of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program work requirements off the table.
The bill would increase the maximum age for SNAP work requirements from 49 to 54, but also add exemptions for the homeless, veterans and young people under 24 who have left the foster care system. The Congressional Budget Office estimates 78,000 people will gain benefits in an average month due to the new SNAP exemptions, which more than offset the impact of the increased age limit.
“The majority of people on SNAP are working,” said Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. “The majority of people who are single, able-bodied and not working are people who are homeless, a lot of them veterans. So I expressed a real concern about making sure that we were doing enough for those folks.”
House Ag Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson, who voted for the bill, told Agri-Pulse following the vote that he saw passage of the bill as a "tremendous win." He applauded the change in work requirements, though he criticized Biden's addition of the SNAP exemptions.
"There's just a lot of things there that I was very pleased with. You don't get everything you want — that's just the way legislation works, but overall, it was really good for American agriculture."
Thompson, however, did not rule out revisiting the SNAP exemptions in the upcoming farm bill.
"We have a responsibility in reauthorization to look at all 12 titles," Thompson said. "We wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't do that."
Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, one of the Republican "no" votes, however, said the bill did not go far enough to cut spending. He also criticized the GOP negotiators for making concessions 

Preview shortened. Download the file for the full document.