U.S. and Other Countries to Research Farm Emissions

The U.S. and 20 other
countries will collaborate on a "research alliance" to research and
reduce carbon emissions from farms, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced
in Copenhagen.

"Just as climate change
has no borders, our research should not," said
Vilsack. "No single nation has all of the resources needed to tackle
agricultural greenhouse gas emissions while at the same time enhancing food
production and food security. We will not only pool our talents and existing
resources but draw new resources, and even new scientists, to better understand
climate change in an agricultural context and in so doing tackle one of the
most important international issues of our time."

Farm-related emissions are
produced by the methane released from decaying manure, burning of crop residue,
and gases from fertilized soil. Agriculture emissions sources account for about
6 percent of U.S. emissions and 14 percent of global emissions.

Vilsack said the Agriculture
Department will increase its spending on
farm-emissions research by $90 million over four years, to a total of $130
million.