The Paris Agreement and Carbon Emissions
The United States is the highest CO2 emitter in the world per capita. The only good news is that our levels have been dropping, not significantly, but working towards better levels. I mean obviously, these things just don’t happen overnight. Per the Paris Agreement, signed in 2015 by much of the developed world, we agreed to work towards net zero carbon output and a 1.5 degree Celsius rise in mean global temperature. Some environmentalists called the agreement weak but nonetheless, a step in the right direction. So what are we doing to get there. Alternate fuel sources and renewable energy. Now I believe the goal is to be there by 2050 but some companies will just not be able to reach net zero carbon ever.
This is the cool part, as farmers we’re given the opportunity to help. Plants sequester carbon, taking it out of the atmosphere and corn, soybeans and wheat are no exception. In addition, there are other ways to further your carbon uptake by planting cover crops, seeding water ways, keeping your tillage to a minimum, and a few other practices along those lines. So some companies will have a negative footprint and be able to sell something we now call “Carbon Credits” and we are able to help companies reach their net zero level. I find it likely that we will have another commodity to sell in the form of carbon credits and the better environmentalist you are, the greater the reward. Now the only thing holding us up is legislation from our government (typical, right) and a way to universally measure carbon.
This isn’t going to be a walk in the park for farmers. We use a lot of carbon right now between fuel and gases but as technology catches up to this agreement, I think we’ll be off and running. Fortunately, we already use these practices on my farm and I challenge every farmer to do the same because it could literally make you rich in the future and clean up the air, water, and dirt. It’s like a 4 for 1.
We are currently in a stand by phase just awaiting a unit of measurement and a few laws from our so thoughtful governance
