From his influential Strengthening Our Investment in Land (SOIL) to the Land Stewardship Project, Tim Walz has entrenched himself in climate.
His climatic connection has recently ballooned after he became Kamala Harris’ choice for vice president in the November 2024 U.S.’ presidential poll.
As governor of Minnesota, Walz has also benefited small-scale farmers through federal loans for farming, equipment purchases and crop insurance.
Enter SOIL
But among his most far-reaching achievements is his SOIL Stewardship Act of 2018. The Act made Congress feature climate conservation measures for the first time in the Farm Bill since the 1990s.
According to Ferd Hoefner, who was with Sustainable Agriculture Coalition in 2018, the term “climate,” last appeared in 1990’s Farm Bill.
In an Inside Climate News story, Hoefner connects Tim Walz’s “soil health” Act to the restoration of agriculture-related climate talk.
Tim Walz and Land Stewardship
Another initiative with as much positive climate impact as the SOIL Act is the Democratic VP nominee’s Land Stewardship Project.
With its agitation for low consolidation of large farms, this project of Minnesota could help reduce methane emissions.
According to experts, methane from large swathes of liquid manure traps atmospheric heat 80 times more than carbon dioxide. This is most apparent on large cattle farms, where manure production is high.
Doing away with large-scale livestock feeding operations could be a challenge however in Walz’s backyard of Minnesota. Here, carbon-intensive methods are what earn the state its annual agricultural returns worth $26 billion.
Another drawback is growing disfavor with corn-based ethanol, in spite of Minnesota having 13 biofuel refineries. According to a 2022 climate report, this “green” fuel source may be 24% worse than gasoline.
Thus, as Tim Walz bows to climate, he treading a delicate path pitting plant-based ethanol against his corn-heavy state. To learn more about how the climate debate pertains to American agricultural emissions, read on in the statistics section below.
United States Agricultural Emissions Statistics
Agriculture contributed 10% of all green house gas (GHG) emissions in the United States in 2022. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), transportation and electric power emissions led at 28% and 23% respectively. However, the agricultural emissions’ margin of ten percent was still substantial by world standards. In 2021, the United States ranked the 6th biggest agricultural emitter worldwide at 555.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). To this total, land use contributed 49.7 million tonnes and farm gate activities generated 495.4 million tonnes of CO2e. However, carbon dioxide, which represents 79% of total emissions has less impact than other lesser gases. These include nitrous oxide (from soil degradation by fertilizers) which is 265 times worse than CO2, and methane.
Where do GHG emissions come from in American agriculture?
EPA’s data for 2022 shows that electrical powering of farm premises and equipment contributed only 5% of agricultural emissions. The rest came from land clearing, deforestation, livestock feeding, soil cultivation and rice production.
What are some mitigating factors?
The United States uses reforestation, land change and proper land use as carbon sinks for GHG emissions. These three entrap 12% of the total federal multi-sector emissions of 6.343 billion CO2e, and hence reduces climatic effect.