Fortunately, the push back against climate change policies on the part of farmers and, more recently, policy makers in Europe is being successful. Even Attorneys General in the U.S. investigating banks for their ESG policies have contributed to financial institutions backing away from them are heartening. However, a new report Texas' agriculture commissioner highlights based on research conducted by the Buckeye Institute reminds us that we cannot afford to let our guard down.
Climate change policies and environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards will have an outsized negative impact on the U.S. agriculture industry, according to a new report shared with FOX Business.
The report — published Wednesday by the free market think tank Buckeye Institute — is titled "Net-Zero Climate-Control Policies Will Fail the Farm" and outlines how farmers will see their operational costs rise by an estimated 34% as a result of net-zero ESG policies. While the report states its findings were "predictable and unsurprising," it added that U.S. policymakers seem "unwilling to address or even acknowledge them."
"Government climate-control policies ensconced in the Paris Climate Accords, the Inflation Reduction Act, and ESG-guided mandates carry a hefty price tag, especially for U.S. farms and the American consumer," wrote report authors Trevor Lewis and M. Ankith Reddy, who both serve as economic research analysts at The Buckeye Institute.
"Europe has tested many of these policies aggressively for years, and the results have been an unmitigated failure," they continued. "Despite these resounding warnings from European counterparts, U.S. policymakers have recommitted American industry to the same net-zero emissions standards and have imposed the same kinds of costly mandates on farms and businesses that will ultimately reduce food and energy supplies without achieving their intended benefits."
The Buckeye Institute's researchers studied the impacts of proposed government-mandates such as emissions constraints using a farm analysts created for their model. What their manuscript revealed was that operational costs rose significantly with farming expenses increasing by at least 34 percent a year. Consequently, families would see at least a 15% rise in annual food bills including food items (like cheese,, eggs, and milk) increasing anywhere from 9 to 78 percent excluding inflation.
The authors did a great job crunching the data and the report is well worth your time to read if you'd like to get an understanding of what is at stake here in the U.S. and what European farmers and consumers may have had to contend with in recent years. At the very least, what really drives home the purpose of the study is its conclusion that cites what Europe has experienced with implementing ESG policies (which are still popular among European elites):
Europe has tested many of these policies aggressively for years, and the results have been an unmitigated failure. Energy prices across Europe have skyrocketed. Chemical companies have been unable to compete globally and have looked for exit strategies to find more profitable environs.
Food prices have soared as farms have been battered by higher input, insurance, and lending costs—and tried to pass those higher expenses on to European consumers. Tariffs have targeted European industries that have looked elsewhere to make their products more affordable. Despite these resounding warnings from European counterparts, U.S. policymakers have recommitted American industry to the same net-zero emissions standards and have imposed the same kinds of costly mandates on farms and businesses that will ultimately reduce food and energy supplies without achieving their intended benefits.
Dutch political activist Vlaadingerbroek delivered a speech at a rancher convention in Rapid City, South Dakota during September of last year describing Holland's experience with ESG policies. Her speech and the Buckeye Institute's study are clarion calls, warning the public about what political elites in the U.S. and Europe have in store for the public and it is of the utmost importance for people and policy makers to heed their warnings.
PHOTO CREDIT: Pixabay
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