"Farm Bureau Aims to Kill Climate Bill"

"The politically influential American Farm Bureau, the self-described 'national voice of agriculture,' has outlined a new campaign effort to derail Congressional bills to combat climate change.

In a memo obtained Wednesday by Green Inc. and addressed to state farm bureau directors, the group’s public-relations director, Don Lipton, wrote:

'Climate change bills in both the Senate and House will impact our farmers and ranchers, hit America’s consumers and impair the economy of our nation. For farmers and ranchers, it will mean higher fuel and fertilizer costs, which puts us at a competitive disadvantage in international markets with other countries that do not have similar carbon emission restrictions. For the future prosperity of the U.S. economy and American agriculture, climate change legislation must be defeated by Congress.'

The authenticity of the memo was confirmed by Cody Lyon, the American Farm Bureau Federation’s director of grassroots and political advocacy."

Kate Galbraith reports for the Green Inc. blog in the New York Times October 14, 2009