Statement by Bob Stallman, President, American Farm Bureau Federation, Regarding Delay of Climate Change Legislation

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 19, 2009 – “We applaud the decision by Senate leadership to delay consideration of climate change legislation until the spring of 2010. This move offers a great opportunity for lawmakers to go back to the drawing board and re-assess the need for this legislation and the impact it will have on all Americans.

“Legislation previously approved by the House, and a similar bill approved on a party-line vote by a Senate committee, would impose higher energy and food costs on consumers. The bills also would create an energy deficit due to limited alternatives. Farmers and ranchers would see higher fuel, fertilizer and energy costs. And the cap-and-trade provisions would do little more than downsize American agriculture and our ability to produce food in this nation. None of those are acceptable results to us, and we will continue to tell our members of Congress, ‘Don’t cap our future.’

“The timing for this announcement by Senate leaders could not be better. We now know there will be no international agreement resulting from the upcoming meeting in Copenhagen. Furthermore, we have heard testimony from the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency that the House-passed bill would have no significant impact on the global climate. These bills represent all pain and no gain for our nation and American agriculture and now the Senate has a chance to correct that error.”

-30-