Perspective please

Earlier today, Gary Black, a Republican candidate for Agriculture Secretary in Georgia, posted this on Twitter ...

Greenhouse gas call w/EPA. I asked if Arg, Ind, Chna, Braz propose ag controls too. Bcrats say "they don't know." I KNOW this hurts US ag.

I think we ought to leave aside the comical notion that a man seeking a bureaucratic office is poking fun at bureaucrats and focus more on the baseless speculation he's making here.

Any sort of 'controls' on carbon emissions coming from agricultural activities need to be kept in perspective with three existing pieces of evidence. The primary one is climate change itself and the impact carbon emissions have in altering the planet's long-term weather. If a changing climate means certain types of revenue-producing agricultural ventures can't be pursued anymore, the notion of 'controls' becomes moot then.

Likewise, the American agricultural industry is already behind the curve and overly reliant on public subsidies to remain competitive in the global marketplace.

And lastly, under a hypothetical cap-and-trade system, any type of carbon emissions could be traded in a new marketplace, thus creating the potential for enhanced revenue. In addition, new technologies aimed at capturing methane for resale are another innovation with tremendous revenue potential.

If Black is going to focus solely on 'controls' and what China might do, then I'm not too terribly thrilled with the idea of him serving as the state agricultural chief.