Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., is co-sponsoring of a resolution disapproving of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) endangerment finding.

According to Johanns, the endangerment finding, finalized by EPA at the end of last year, concludes that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions should be regulated by EPA and motor vehicle emissions are contributing to global climate change. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is expected to file the resolution as early as today with more than 30 bipartisan cosponsors.

“EPA’s endangerment finding is bad for agriculture, bad for businesses and their employees, and bad for anyone who flips on a light switch,” Johanns said. “This Administration seems to think there is no limit to the government’s reach into the everyday lives of Americans. Congress writes the laws, and we need to act to stop EPA from imposing devastating regulations on Americans. This resolution is the first step in doing so.”

According to Johanns, supporters of the Obama-Pelosi cap-and-trade bill, passed in the House of Representatives last June, have cited potential EPA regulation as a reason to support the flawed legislation.

“I reject that thinking. Congress should not force the American people to step in front of a bus to avoid a freight train,” Johanns said.

Yesterday, more than 100 agricultural organizations, including several Nebraska groups, sent a letter to Senator Murkowski stating support for her resolution.

Livestock producers, who suffered losses during recent winter storms, are being encouraged to use the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) that provides assistance to livestock producers when losses are incurred as a result of harsh weather.

“I encourage all affected producers to report your losses to the Farm Services Agency ahead of the LIP deadline,” said Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb. “I was pleased to work with USDA to increase the accuracy of livestock compensation under this program last summer. Due to the recent winter storms and temperatures consistently below zero, producers have faced losses again this year. I want to ensure everyone is aware of the upcoming program payment deadlines.”

To be eligible for LIP for livestock losses suffered during 2009, livestock owners and contract growers must file a notice of loss no later than 30 calendar days from when the loss of livestock is apparent and must apply for payment no later than Jan. 30, 2010. Producers who experience a loss in 2010 are encouraged to report those losses to their county FSA office within 30 days of loss of livestock as well.

LIP provides payments to eligible livestock owners and contract growers who suffered eligible livestock deaths in excess of normal mortality as a direct result of adverse weather, including hurricanes, floods, blizzards, disease, wildfires and extreme heat and cold. Under LIP, which was authorized by the 2008 farm bill, producers are helped to recover from their losses stemming from 2008 and subsequent disasters.

He said NFU strongly believes a legislative solution, rather than EPA regulation, is the best means to address climate change.

Keith Dittrich, chairman of the Board of the American Corn Growers Association (ACGA), said cap and trade expands the market for farm production and will offer “historic opportunities from an economy that has an insatiable demand for energy.”

“By protecting the environment, it will also ensure that farmers will be able to meet the needs of feeding a growing world, not damage that ability as the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) recently stated,” Dittrich said.

While Dittrich said he understands that this legislation may potentially increase the cost of some energy products, he sees this as an investment for the future of America and stated that farmers “must understand that they should now consider themselves energy producers as well.”

Dittrich also scoffed at AFBF comments that cap and trade will downsize agriculture and the prediction that millions of acres of trees might be planted to capture a rising carbon market, stating that these “USDA predictions are most likely as inaccurate as the last Crop Production report” and that in fact farmers would be able to reap a new stream of income by sequestering carbon and trading permits.

“Farmers must decide to ‘wear the cap and trade their energy crops in for better prices’ which will happen as the country moves to a expanded renewable energy system coming from the farm,” he said.

While the American Corn Growers Association supports cap and trade, the National Corn Growers Association President Darrin Ihnen has released a statement Wednesday opposing the House legislation that was passed in June last year.

“Now, based on the recently completed economic analysis, NCGA has no choice but to oppose H.R. 2454,” Ihnen said. “The results of the Informa study indicates that every corn grower in the country will experience increased costs of production resulting from H.R. 2454. In the early years of this legislation, these higher production costs will be relatively minor. However, over time these prices will significantly increase, placing an unnecessary burden on growers.

He said that while the legislation offers opportunities to produce carbon offsets, “…this study demonstrates that not all growers will be able to participate.”

“The single greatest offset opportunity is using continuous no-till. However, not every corn grower is able to adopt no-till practices,” Ihnen said. “The ability to adopt continuous no-till production is driven by both economic and agronomic factors. Those growers unable to adopt no-till production will experience serious economic hardship resulting from H.R. 2454. This burden will fall disproportionately on growers in the northern Corn Belt.”

He also said the will result in diverting productive farmland into afforestation (newly planted forests) or perennial grasses solely to gain offset credits.

Nebraska is the nation’s second leading ethanol producing state behind Iowa. Nebraska’s ethanol capacity is 1.6 billion gallons. But, Nebraska exports 96.5 percent of that ethanol out-of-state.

Nebraska is abundant in renewable energy. The state ranks 6th in the nation in wind energy potential and 9th in the nation in solar energy potential. With so much of the state’s ethanol production shipped out of state to add value, maybe Nebraska could follow Brazil’s lead.

Reuters reported Tuesday that Brazil opened the “world’s first ethanol-fueled power plant in an effort by the South American biofuels giant to increase the global use of ethanol and boost its clean power generation. ”

According to the article, the project is a joint effort between state-run oil giant Petrobras and General Electric Co, which helped design the plant.

The article said that Brazil is the world’s largest ethanol exporter and is working with Japan to develop biofuels power generation there.

According to the article, Petrobras with the help of GE upgraded the 87-megawatt power plant to switch between running on natural gas or ethanol instantaneously. Brazil primarily relies on hydroelectric power but needs backup thermoelectric generation during the dry season.

According to GE, tests showed switching the plant to ethanol reduced carbon dioxide emissions without lowering energy output.

GE has around 770 turbines like those used in the Juiz de Fora plant, including many in Japan, that could be converted to run on ethanol, the article said.

A large scale plant like that could never replace a major coal power generating plant. Smaller ethanol power plants could provide supplemental electrical power to small communities on a scale like wind turbine power. Even better, a small community could build an ethanol plant and create ethanol from the refuse the community generates to feed the power plant, along with providing a market for an area ethanol producing plant.

The article said Brazil is expected to produce a record 27.8 billion liters of ethanol in the 2009/2010 season. It began its biofuels program 30 years ago and now mandates a minimum 20 percent of ethanol in gasoline. The U.S. is currently is looking to increase ethanol in the gas supply from 10 percent to 15 percent on a voluntary basis.

The U.S. imports about 60 percent of its oil supply that is used to make gasoline. Those imports contribute about one-third of this country’s negative trade balance.

While the U.S. ethanol supply comes from corn,  Brazil’s ethanol production comes from sugar cane milled by companies such as Cosan or commodities giants including Cargill Inc, Bunge and ADM Co., according to the article.

Domestic demand for ethanol is being driven by the popularity of the flex-fuel car technology that was launched in 2003 and now makes up around 90 percent of new vehicle sales in Brazil, according to the article.