By Laurin Penland
Wilmington, NC – The South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation says climate change legislation that is being heavily debated in the Senate could squash farmers. The Federation says cap and trade will raise fuel prices and decrease farm land, causing some farmers to go out of business.
The South Carolina Farm Bureau says, emissions regulations considered in the climate change bill could cut into farmers' already thinning profit margin.
And spokesperson Reggie Hall says that will make it harder for farmers to compete with other countries without the same regulations.
"And a lot of people who've read the cover of that bill that says it's all in favor of the clean environment and green jobs, all those are great things, and I think the Farm Bureau would be for those, but just not at the cost of the American farmers' livelihood."
Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham co-wrote with Democratic Massachusetts Senator John Kerry an op-ed in the New York Times in support of climate change legislation. Graham and Kerry say the bill should include a border tax on items produced in countries that avoid stricter emissions standards.
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