Federal Legislation and Carbon Markets (Part 1)
By Dusty Sonnenberg, CCA, Ohio Field Leader, a project of the Ohio Soybean Council and soybean check-off.
Carbon Markets are being discussed everywhere in agriculture. This discussion has not gone unnoticed in Washington D.C.
“There are a lot of U.S. Senators behind the Growing Climate Solutions act of 2021, and Ag. Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow is involved in it,” said Peggy Hall, Associate Professor and Field Specialist in Ag Resource Law at The Ohio State University. “It passed the Senate on June 24th and is now with the House of Representatives.”
The Growing Climate Solutions Act (S. 1251) is necessary to establish parameters around the ideas surrounding carbon banking. “There is a lot of interest in carbon credits and carbon programs. This bill would create more transparency and oversight in how the markets would operate. This would create information for landowners from USDA. There are also studies that would understand the market mechanisms and bring transparency. It would also create a third-party verification system to determine when a credit is created, and how it exists and is verified and transferred,” said Hall. “It would also have a reporting mechanism to send information from U.S.D.A. to Congress, and also identify any potential barriers that could keep farmers from participating.”
A website has been created by the Ohio Soybean Council staff to act as a clearinghouse for all the available carbon market information and simplify the comparison process for Ohio farmers. The information is available by visiting www.soyohio.org and clicking on the “Carbon Markets” tab at the top.