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Where is agriculture policy in the 2020 democratic political platform?

Gary Baise, Attorney at Law

September 29, 2020

4 Min Read
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Two months ago in this blog, I wrote the Democrat Party had released its “draft” Platform. The final Platform approved by the Democrat delegates did nothing more for agriculture. There are 90 pages and agriculture and farming are never mentioned as being important.

The Democrat National Convention (DNC) states “We respectfully acknowledge that we present this Platform at our 2020 Democratic [Democrat] National Convention on the lands of the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians, the Forest County Potawatomi Community, the Ho-chunk Nation, the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, etc...” The DNC acknowledges “…that our country was built on Indigenous homelands.” There is no acknowledgement in the Platform that America’s farmers and ranchers have made the Indian lands productive, and as I have stated before less than 2% of the population feeds 100% of our 330-plus million individuals.

There is no acknowledgement of this fact.

There are 10 sections of the DNC Platform. After the Preamble, there are sections labeled “Protecting Americans and Recovering from the COVID-19 Pandemic”; “Building a Stronger, Fairer Economy”; “Achieving Universal, Affordable, Quality Healthcare”; “Protecting Communities and Building Trust by Reforming Our Criminal Justice System”; ”Healing the Soul of America”; “Combatting the Climate Crisis and Pursuing Environmental Justice”; “Creating a 21st Century Immigration System”; “Providing a World-class Education in Every Zip Code”; and “Renewing American Leadership”.

Related:Survey: Farmer support for Trump is overwhelming

As you can see from the major sections, agriculture is not mentioned once.

Under the “Combatting Climate Crisis” section the Platform states “Climate change is a global emergency.” The platform states “Farmers’ crops have been drowned in their fields across the Midwest.” There is no mention of the fact that crops in farm fields have been drowning for decades. That is why in the Midwest we put in farm tile because the land is flat.

Democrats believe there is a false choice between growing the economy and combatting climate change. Democrats believe that we must rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement and of course give away our tax money to developing nations.

Democrats believe “…we must embed environmental justice, economic justice, and climate justice at the heart of our policy and governing agenda.” There is never any discussion that we might want to make sure we have adequate food resources for our own population and in many cases, the rest of the world.

Related:Is Joe Biden’s plan good for rural America?

Net zero greenhouse gas by 2050

The DNC Platform makes much of having net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, the Platform states the net-zero goal should be reached by 2050.

“We will dramatically expand solar and wind energy deployment through community-based and utility-scale systems, including in rural areas. Within five years we will install 500 million solar panels, including eight million solar roofs and community solar energy systems, and 60,000 wind turbines, and turn American ingenuity into American jobs…”

We need only to look to California attempting to implement this policy to see the rolling blackouts as a result.

The Democrats do include farming and ranching in its net-zero goal. Democrats “…will expand federal programs to help farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners pursue high-productivity, lower-emission and regenerative agricultural practices in order to help build more resilient, vibrant, local and regional food systems.” There is no mention on page 52 of the DNC Platform of how farmers and ranchers are to run their tractors, combines and other equipment on windmill and/or solar power.

The Platform also wants to “…help farmers reduce pesticide and chemical fertilizer use.” I was recently in Kenya and saw the results of such a program, and the families are not doing very well. Those who use pesticides to kill bugs in a tropical environment tend to do somewhat better, as you would expect.

In discussing fossil fuel the Platform states, “We will hold fossil fuels companies accountable for cleaning up abandoned mine lands, oil and gas wells, and industrial sites, so these facilities no longer pollute local environments and can be safely repurposed to support new economic activity, including in the heart of coal country.”  

The Platform believes that by undertaking these policies it will be able to “decarbonize” America’s industries.    

Note: Gary Baise organized President Trump’s agricultural team of advisers.

The opinions of the author are not necessarily those of Farm Futures or Farm Progress. 

About the Author(s)

Gary Baise

Attorney at Law, Gary H. Baise

Gary Baise is an Illinois farmer and attorney. He also serves as outside General Counsel for several national agriculture organizations, including Agricultural Retailers Association and National Sorghum Producers. Baise organized President Trump’s agricultural team of advisers. He was the first Chief of Staff to the first U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator. He owns a family farm in Jacksonville, Ill.

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