Today's Date:
The following issue is
EXTREMELY URGENT! Please call our Senators today to
ensure that conservation money is included in the next Farm
Bill!
The Sierra Club
opposes the “dirty” Farm Bill, H.R. 2646, recently passed by the U.S.
House of Representatives. This bill threatens our air and
water, unfairly subsidizes corporate agribusiness, and fails to combat
sprawl.
All is not lost,
however! The Senate has a
chance to reform this legislation and enact a new Farm Bill that will
protect the environment and our food supply, as well as reward family
farmers on working lands.
A key component of a
“cleaner” Farm Bill is the Conservation Security Act, introduced by U.S.
Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Gordon Smith (R-OR). The Conservation Security Act
provides a comprehensive, flexible, voluntary approach to farm
conservation policy by providing incentive payments to farmers and
ranchers for maintaining or adopting conservation practices on land in
production.
And YOU have a chance
to make sure the Conservation Security Act is part of the new Farm
Bill!
¨
Recently, the
Conservation Security Act has come under severe attack by Senators who
want to switch funds that are proposed to be spent on conservation over to
even more “commodity program” payments. Contact Senator Harkin and let him
know he has support from Iowans for this innovative approach to farm
conservation policy, so he should not back away from the conservation
proposals he has made, nor should he propose to weaken existing
conservation programs in the face of Senate opposition.
¨
Contact Senator
Grassley and tell him not to join the Senate opposition to the
Conservation Security Act.
There is still time for him to become a co-sponsor of this Act and
to do the right thing for the environment, for family farmers, and for the
future of Iowa.
Sample Talking Points
in Support of the Conservation Security Act
¨
I
am a member of the Sierra Club and I am calling to urge Senator Grassley
to co-sponsor the Conservation Security Act as a part of the new Farm
Bill. This Act represents a
model of farm spending that moves away from incentives for overproduction
and environmental degradation to a system that rewards farmers for
implementing conservation practices on working lands.
¨
I
am a member of the Sierra Club and I am calling to encourage Senator
Harkin to follow through with his farm conservation proposals, including
the Conservation Security Act, as he participates in the creation of a new
Farm Bill.
¨
The Conservation
Security Act establishes the Conservation Security Program, a voluntary
program that lets farmers select their level of conservation performance
and rewards them for real achievements, while providing measurable
environmental benefits for everyone.
¨
The voluntary,
flexible, site-specific conservation plans created under the Conservation
Security Act can help improve soil health and productivity; improve and
protect air and water quality; restore, conserve, and enhance wetlands and
wildlife habitat; and provide on-farm conservation and regeneration of
natural resources.
¨
The CSA is intended to
complement, not replace, other conservation programs such as the
Conservation Reserve Program, Wetlands Reserve Program, and Environmental
Quality Incentives Program.
¨
Please co-sponsor and
continue to support the Conservation Security Act, an innovative approach
to farm conservation policy that can fundamentally reform the way society
supports farmers.
Contact Senator
Grassley and urge him to co-sponsor the Conservation Security Act.
Washington, DC: 202-224-3744
Contact Senator Harkin
and ask him not to renege on his conservation proposals.
Washington, DC: 202-224-3254
If you want more
information about the Conservation Security Act, please email the Iowa
Chapter at iowa.chapter@sierraclub.org or call us
at 515-277-8868. Please
contact our Senators as soon as possible, because action on the Farm Bill
could occur quickly. Thanks
for your help on this important conservation issue. Explore, Enjoy, and Protect the
Planet.
The Iowa Chapter Sierra Club was able to produce this educational alert with help from the Joyce Foundation and the Minnesota Project.
The Iowa Chapter
of
the Sierra Club © 2000
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