Ag Blamed for Pollution

Farm Air Quality Talks Get Underway Amidst New Pollution Findings
Mon May 4, 2009 5:25am EDT

By GreenBiz Staff

The EPA next week will convene an Agricultural Air Quality Task Force this week in the town that, according to a new study by the American Lung Association, is among the 10 most-polluted cities in the nation.

The Task Force will look into ways that farm operations can minimize air pollution and toxic emissions -- including how to use funding from a $10.9 million assistance package to help achieve those goals.

"This is a pivotal time for agriculture and air quality," says Ed Burton, State Conservationist of the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service in California. "The focus on energy and climate is creating more challenges -- and more opportunities -- for agriculture than ever before. At this meeting we will address technical issues associated with agriculture and forestry."

The full details of the report are online at StateOfTheAir.org. The findings of best and worst overall cities for air quality is as follows:

Ten Most Polluted U.S. Cities
1. Bakersfield, Calif.
2. Pittsburgh-New Castle, Pa.
3. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, Calif.
4. Visalia-Porterville, Calif.
5. Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, Ala.
6. Hanford-Corcoran, Calif.
7. Fresno-Madera, Calif.
8. Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington, Ohio-Ky.-Ind.
9. Detroit-Warren-Flint, Mich.
10. Cleveland-Akron-Elyria, Ohio

Ten Cleanest U.S. Cities
1. Cheyenne, Wyo.
2. Santa Fe-Espanola, N.M.
3. Honolulu, Hawaii
4. Great Falls, Mont.
4. Flagstaff, Ariz.
6. Farmington, N.M.
6. Anchorage, Alaska
8. Tucson, Ariz.
9. Bismarck, N.D.
9. Salinas, Calif.

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It seems somewhat hypocritical to blame agriculture for the problems of the worst polluted cities in this country when the cleanest cities have just as much agriculture around them. So why is it that ag gets the blame? Its because it easier to get the masses behind regulations that affect someone else. If they were to restrict automobile use, that wouldn’t go over well at all, but floating the idea to restrict tractor use, that might gain legs. Because of the small number of people involved in agriculture, we have to speak out that much louder when we are being unfairly targeted.

Farmers Aren't The Problem

Farmers make case for the bay
On the Farm
By Ted Shelsby
Special to The Baltimore Sun

December 14, 2008

There are good reasons why people at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation say that, given a choice, they would rather see farmland stay farmland than be turned into residential development. That's because farms create less pollution for the bay than homes and commercial development, foundation officials say.

This is the primary reason for the warming of relationships between officials of the foundation and farmers, and it can be traced back to early 2006.

For years, the foundation blamed farmers for the bay's declining health. The environmental group acknowledges that that was a mistake. It is now working with farm organizations to improve the profitability of farms so that farmers can continue to work the land.

Unfortunately, the farmers' voice was not as loud at legislative hearings in the General Assembly in past years. And farmers were not being given fair credit for their conservation achievements.

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After years of denigrating farmers around the Chesapeake Bay, environmentalists have finally come to realize that farmers are their best friends when it comes to cleaning up the bay. Keeping producers on the land preserves these open spaces and, amazingly, farmland filters water much better than streets and parking lots. Ag producers were the original environmentalists and the newcomers are finally starting to realize that.