Bill Huffman
Director - Government Relations

The Friday Report

October 9, 2009

The big news today is that President Obama has been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in meeting climatic changes in the world. Meanwhile, the focus in Congress continues to be on health care reform and climate change.

Obama Receives Nobel Peace Prize

President Obama today was named a Nobel Peace Prize recipient for what the award’s organizers said was “a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting”.

The Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee said that President Obama’s “early international diplomacy efforts on climate change” helped him become the third sitting U.S. president to win the coveted award.

The stunning announcement came just nine months into his Presidency. The announcement caught many by surprise including the President and the White House.

A spokesman for the Union of Concerned Scientists said, “My guess is he was awarded the prize as much for his efforts to change the tone of the global conversation, re-engage the U.S. with the rest of the world, and listen to others’ points of view with respect. The award is likely more for the promise of what Obama hopes to accomplish on global warming, nuclear weapons reduction, Middle East peace, and other issues than it is for what he’s accomplished to date.”

The announcement also brought out some negative comments. Several environmental groups continue their efforts to pressure the Obama Administration to show even greater leadership heading into the December U.N. summit in Copenhagen, Denmark where a new global warming treaty is expected to be finished. 

On Capitol Hill, Texas Republican Representative Joe Barton issued a statement saying, “The earth and I are more like cousins than actual friends, but I have to admit that it and the sun did a darned good job with the tomatoes in my backyard this summer. I don’t expect a Nobel for my bright promise of next year’s tasty Beefsteaks and Early Girls, but now that they’ve started giving Nobel prizes for good things that could happen in the future, I’m eligible as the next guy, right?”

Oh the controversy over global warming and greenhouse gases!  When and how will it all end?

USDA News

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said this week that the Department of Agriculture must sharpen the focus of its science and research efforts to emphasize area where it can make an impact on society.

Speaking at the National Press Club, Vilsack said “USDA science needs to change to respond to….pressures, to ensure the sustainability of the American food, fuel, and fiber system and to address some of America’s and the world’s most intractable problems.  His speech to the press club was to outline some of the responsibilities of the newly created National Institute of Food and Agriculture, another initiative of the Obama Administration.

In a related development, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has begun an agency-wide effort to create and implement a sustainable business model to deliver science based conservation services in a more effective and efficient manner. A spokesman for the agency said NRCS intends to “focus on increasing the time NRCS employees spend in the field working with farmers and ranchers.”  This new effort by NRCS was outlined in testimony before the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research on Wednesday.

2010 Program Signup

USDA Secretary Vilsack announced this week that enrollment for the 2010 direct and counter-cyclical program payment program is now open and will continue through June 1, 2010.  USDA encourages producers to make use of the eDCP automated website to sign up, or producers can visit their local USDA Service Center to complete their 2010 crop signup.

Water Transfer Legislation

Congressmen Jim Costa, D-Fresno and Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, introduced legislation this week that they say will help ease the effects of severe drought in the Central Valley by facilitating the transfers of up to 300,000 acre-feet of  irrigation water.

The Water Transfer Facilitation Act of 2009 is aimed at easing restrictions on the Bureau of Reclamation and would streamline environmental reviews for the giant garter snake and other endangered species.  Costa and Cardoza said their bill would reduce unnecessary delays in water transfers at a time when Central Valley farmers have been hard hit by a three-year drought.

Members of the California congressional delegation are under intense pressure to help get water moving through the Delta pumps for San Joaquin Valley agriculture. It is expected that this bill will be amended into another piece of legislation or an appropriations bill in order to get water moving sooner rather than later.