On April 3rd, Tom Vilsack, secretary of agriculture announced that $1.5 billion will be available in fiscal 2024 for conservation and climate-related projects. Funding available through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program is intended to expand conservation of ranch land and forests with the ultimate intent of modulating climate change. In an address to producers in Minnesota, Secretary Vilsack stated, “We had unprecedented demand for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program last year showing the robust interest in conservation from farmers and ranchers.” He added, “We are looking forward to seeing what the more streamlined and customer-oriented Regional Conservation Partnership Program can do to get more conservation on the ground in the coming months and years.”
Priorities for 2024 include “climate-smart agriculture”, conservation and environmental justice, all priorities of the current Administration and reflecting an emphasis on disadvantage and minority communities.
$1.5 billion is a large sum to be distributed in small amounts to a large number of recipients. One is reminded of the comment by the late Hubert Humphrey that “a billion here and a billion there and it soon adds up to real money.” It is probably incidental that the USDA announcement was made in the home state of the late Senator and Vice President.
Given the nebulous objectives associated with $1.5 billion in grants, taxpayers are entitled to an accounting with quantitative evaluation of returns. Is this too much to ask? Is this expenditure supposedly for climate change actually an exercise in altruistic social engineering?