Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4824, the Carbon Sequestration Collaboration Act. Mr. Speaker, this commonsense legislation increases the coordination among Federal research entities that are focused on the topic of carbon sequestration. Specifically, this bill improves the capacity to sequester carbon through land use activities by authorizing a coordinated research effort across the Department of Energy, the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Agriculture. To date, most Federal research has been focused on large-scale carbon sequestration in geologic formations. That entails finding a specific spot deep in the Earth to trap carbon generated by large sources, like multiple power plants that supply an entire region. This leaves a significant knowledge gap related to carbon storage potential at small-scale and everyday sites, like soils, rangelands, biochar, mine tailings, and forests. The USDA has already started to explore programs for farmers, ranchers, and landowners to generate carbon credits by adopting practices to reduce emissions or sequester carbon on their land. Yet, I will be the first to admit that USDA is by no means an expert on quantifying amounts of carbon sequestered or tracking how it behaves over time.…”