July 2, 2009 The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed a
sweeping climate change bill late last week that will
significantly change the way Americans use and produce energy.
The American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), which passed
on a 219-212 vote, now moves to the Senate, where experts
predict another battle. House Agriculture Committee Chairman
Collin Peterson (Minn.) won support for his amendment to make
the bill more favorable to agriculture. Under the legislation
passed by the House, the agriculture and forestry sectors are
clearly exempt from the bill's greenhouse gas emission reduction
requirements, which means that farmers, ranchers and forestland
owners will not be subject to the greenhouse gas emissions cap,
Peterson said in a statement. The bill establishes an offset
program at the U.S. Department of Agriculture that will work to
design and implement plans that reduce or avoid greenhouse gas
emissions and sequester carbon. Farmers, ranchers and forestland
owners will earn offsets fo