The House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis today released a comprehensive plan titled “Solving the Climate Crisis: The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and a Healthy, Resilient, and Just America.”

The Climate Crisis Action Plan, released as a majority staff report, recognizes the role agriculture plays in providing valuable climate and ecosystems benefits. Investing in American agriculture is one of 12 pillars in the plan, recommending an increased investment to support the voluntary efforts of America’s farmers and ranchers to employ climate stewardship practices. The report also recommends setting climate stewardship practice goals across all U.S. farmland and incentivizing producers to incorporate energy efficiency and renewable energy on-farm.

Biofuels groups are pleased to see the inclusion of a Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) in the recommendations.

“The Committee correctly points out that the LCFS policy model already has a proven track record and that renewable fuels have played a crucial role in achieving the objectives of the California LCFS,” said Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “We also concur with the Committee’s position that high-octane, low-carbon fuels could deliver substantial carbon benefits at a low cost in the years ahead.”

RFA and the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) were among a broad coalition of stakeholders that worked together to developed a framework and set of guiding principles for a Midwest LCFS program.

“The Select Committee’s report not only cites our Midwest Clean Fuel Policy framework as a positive example of progress, it also mirrors our recommendations to reflect the best-available science for lifecycle assessments and reward farmers and biofuel producers using climate-smart practices that reduce carbon emissions, store soil carbon, and reduce nitrous oxide emissions,” said ACE CEO Brian Jennings.