Farmers make their profits from the food they produce, but what if they received an extra sum of money for the emissions they didn’t produce? Under a new program run by the California Air Resources Board, 21 of the state’s rice farmers have an extra incentive to think green. The program has instituted a carbon market that puts a trading value on a ton of carbon and pays farmers for each ton of carbon offset. Currently, the monetary reward for each ton of carbon not emitted is low, but the introduction of the program is spurring research into finding the most environmentally friendly ways to grow rice. Implement such a program for other crops across the country, and the agricultural industry could see a measurable dent in its emissions, which account for 9 percent of America’s total emissions.
This program will make cutting carbon emissions lucrative for farmers
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