found 72 percent opposed his plan to slash emissions in half, fearing that new regulations — which farmers hate — would follow.
Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities has plans to invest in projects that will reach over 60,000 farms and span 25 million acres. Government officials estimate that this could sequester 60 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. But they have even broader hopes for the new $3 billion initiative: that Wall Street will see the financial possibilities of turning farms green and make their own investments in similar projects.
“A lot of folks are still staying on the sidelines because there’s headline risk that you’re going to make a pledge, purchase credits, and then end up in a POLITICO or Bloomberg article about carbon credits that didn’t work,” said Kris Covey, a co-founder and President of USDA grant-recipient The Soil Inventory Project.
If the Biden administration can secure significant private investment in farms and programs that are going green, it might just be able to thread the needle of keeping farmers happy and hitting emission goals.