| The host, Mike Adams, who is to Big Ag what Sean Hannity is to the right wing, began by asking about the EPA and their "overreaching, burdensome actions" like a potential cow tax or the requirement to get permits if you want to spray pesticides near waterways. He asked "How do you view some of these potential actions coming down from the EPA?"
Johanns replied that he had "Great concern." He said that production ag is under attack from a number of different fronts, like an effort to regulate dust. He said, "I don't know how you do agriculture without having some dust." About the cow tax, he said "You haven't seen anything yet," and then continued to talk about the push to implement cap and trade. He cited a report that shows that cap and trade raises production costs for an acre of corn by $45-$80/acre.
He went on to say:
Then you've got animal rights groups who really are intervening in terms of production agriculture relative to cattle and hogs and chickens . . . You need an administration that says, "Look, we've got to eat," ... and stands up for production agriculture. And quite honestly these days I'm seeing them side with other elements that would be very difficult for agriculture.
The host then said:
This is my concern, it seems like now under the guise of protecting the environment ... under that it's allowing these groups, many of them very anti-agriculture, to push their agendas forward.
Johanns replied:
Everything now is packaged that way... packaged as well this is my contribution to protecting the environment... it just makes it very, very difficult if not impossible for them [farmers] to be successful, to even break even.
He says he's upset that the Senate is trying to pass a climate change bill "on a simple majority." That strikes me as ridiculous. Once upon a time, all bills except for a rare few that got filibustered were passed on a simple majority.
About a climate change bill he said, "We're doing all we can to push back and say Look, if you're not careful here you're going to take us down a path that will really harm us." When the show host noted that it seems like Johanns and others have successfully slowed down any global warming legislation, he replied that he thinks so, and that he hopes the bill at least has to go through the "regular order of business in the Senate." He said "Hopefully we've brought some reason to this and that's what we need to try to achieve in all of these areas."
He also noted that he wants to raise the ethanol blend levels in fuel from 10% to 15%. There's a comment period open until May 21, 2009. He began working on this effort (to raise the blend levels) as ag secretary. He said:
We'll see what the comments provide and my hope is we can take this step. I am optimistic. I think the science does support the step. I do think there is good general support for renewables.
(From what I've read, that comment is completely bogus. Science does NOT support corn ethanol as fuel AT ALL.)
So there you go, that's the interview with Mike Johanns. If I lived in Nebraska, I think I can safely say that I would NOT vote for him, and I would gladly campaign for whoever runs against him in 2014. |
