Walz: Sustainable ag, renewable energy gaining respect

02/18/2007

Congressman cautious on trade deals


By Tim Krohn
The Mankato Free Press


ST PETER — Those who’ve been waging a lonely decades-long battle for sustainable agriculture, organic farming, renewable energy and environmentalism are no longer alone, says U.S. Rep. Tim Walz.

“Those of you in sustainable agriculture, the public is listening because you’re talking about sensible things and you’re doing the research,” Walz told those attending the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota conference at Gustavus Saturday.

And, said Walz, the first term Democrat from the First District, the large group of incoming freshmen in Congress are attuned to the same issues.

Walz, who serves on the House Agriculture Committee, said the new Farm Bill being developed in Congress will be “written from the ground up,” with committee members taking input from the public before drafting the massive spending and policy bill that will set ag policy for years to come.

While commodity support programs for mainline crops such as corn, soybeans, cotton and rice will likely continue to hold considerable clout in the new Farm Bill, Walz said there is support for giving more attention to other issues in the bill.

“There’s excitement over renewable energy and value added (farm) products.”

With the Farm Bill tied closely to trade policy, Walz said he thinks more members of Congress and the public are realizing globalization issues are more complex than just protectionism vs. throwing trade wide open.

“I think we need some more caution on trade deals.” He said he is worried about Congress providing so-called “fast-track” trade agreements when they involve countries with environmental, worker and human rights abuses.

While Walz said he believes things like renewable energy, public transit, and conservation agriculture can be funded, he said it will take creativity and tough choices because of the monumental size of the federal budget problem.

“I’m an optimist, but we got a budget mess beyond all imagination,” he said.

Still, Walz said the budget can and will be balanced in coming years and he argued against simply cutting funding to important programs “in a rush to see who’s most fiscally conservative.”

Walz said some tax cuts for high-income earners need to be rolled back to provide more funding. He argued that in light of growing deficits, the promise that tax cuts for the wealthy would improve the economy and reduce deficits has failed.

“There is an inequity in this country in the economy,” Walz said, noting that the gap between a small group of the wealthiest Americans and the rest of the country has widened to proportions not seen since the 1920s.

On the state level, Rep. Terry Morrow, D-St. Peter, and Kathy Brynaert, D-Mankato, told the group that providing more affordable health care for small and mid-size farmers as well as making transportation improvements are two of the most important things state government can do.

Morrow, who serves on the Agriculture Committee, said many small farm owners have been forced off MinnesotaCare and legislation aims to allow them back into the subsidized health insurance program.

And, he said, rural transportation issues need to be addressed.

“If we don’t take care of roads and bridges we can’t serve farmers.”