“Rednecks” to go green and hold hands-out for carbon credits for land action or non-action: NSW Farmers Association plan

The NSW Farmers Association’s annual conference called for research to quantify agriculture’s ability to sequester carbon, and for a wide range of policies to address climate change, including more flexible environmental and natural resource legislation, reported The Land (26/7/2007, p.14).

Global warming on agenda: Delegates opposed the Federal Government’s proposal to compensate the energy sector for the cost of reducing carbon emissions and opposed any attempt to carbon-tax farming until all worldwide emissions have been scientifically quantified and catalogued. National Farmers Federation president, David Crombie, devoted a fair chunk of his address to global warming, as did Federal Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Minister, Peter McGauran.

Farmers need to engage issue: Cromble and NSW Farmers president, Jock Laurie, emphasised the importance of farmers getting involved in the global warming debate if they wanted to avoid missing out on the potential benefits or being penalised under a future carbon trading scheme. He had been called a “redneck” at meetings for explaining how native vegetation regulations were affecting people financially and emotionally, and arguing it was unfair for individuals to carry the cost of community expectations.

The Land, 26/7/2007, p. 14