New Report: Global Warming Will Cost $37 Million for Texas Corn

Farmers and Environmentalists Call on Congress to Repower America with Clean Energy

SAN ANTONIO — Global warming could cost corn growers in Texas $37 million a year, according to a new report by Environment Texas. Texas ranks 11th for highest damage estimates. Nationwide the damages to America’s #1 crop total more than $1.4 billion annually. Environment Texas expects these costs to go up unless Congress and the President take decisive action to repower America with clean energy and reduce global warming pollution.

“Corn likes it cool, but global warming is raising temperatures in Texas and across the nation,” said Environment Texas field organizer Anna Lange. “Hotter fields will mean lower yields for corn, and eventually, the rest of agriculture.”

Despite conventional wisdom that global warming is good for agriculture in the United States, scientists expect that temperature increases due to global warming will hurt corn production. In fact, research from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Carnegie Institution shows that temperature changes consistent with global warming are already harming corn production worldwide relative to a world without global warming.  

According to a recent analysis by Dr. Bruce McCarl, Professor of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University, climate change models show that “statewide Texas cropped acreage declines by about 20 percent”. In the San Antonio region, Dr. McCarl estimates that “farm income falls 16-30 percent under the 2030 scenarios and 30-45 percent under 2090”.

Environment Texas and the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance pointed out that transitioning to a clean energy economy will help rebuild our economy and stop the worst effects of global warming.

Clean energy sources, including wind turbines and distributed generation such as on-site solar panels, can provide farmers an independent source of electricity or income while reducing global warming pollution. Wind developers, for example, are offering $4,000 to $8,000 a year per turbine to farmers that allow them to be installed on their land.

With the report, Hotter Fields, Lower Yields, Environment Texas analyzed the expected future impacts of global warming on America’s corn growers. The analysis draws on a 2008 study by the United States Climate Change Science Program, a joint project of the United States Department of Agriculture and 12 other federal agencies. The report pairs the government estimates of the relative loss in corn productivity in major U.S. corn-producing areas due to global warming with USDA data on the size of the corn industry to estimate the financial impact from global warming. The analysis considers the combined effect of increasing temperatures and increasing levels of carbon dioxide but assumes that crops get sufficient water and does not include other negative effects of global warming, such as more frequent extreme storms, higher levels of ozone, and the spreading of diseases, pests and weeds. 

Mike Mecke, a Natural Resources Mgr. & Water Speccialist who retired from SAWS in Bexar County in ’02 claims that, “global warming or climate change might have major negative effects upon Texas agriculture both from water use or availability and temperature conditions affecting major crops, especially corn.”
Indeed, he says, “If regional droughts persist and climate warming continues to occur, farmers will need to test and consider other crops better adapted to the new climate and using less water to achieve a satisfactory profit.  Farming methods may need to change to counter environmental changes.

This spring, the House Energy and Commerce Committee, of which Representative Charles Gonzalez is a member, will consider a bill answering President Obama’s call for comprehensive clean energy and global warming legislation, and the full House is expected to consider the bill this summer. In addition to capping global warming pollution at science-based levels, the American Clean Energy and Security Act would require that the nation obtain 25 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, like wind and solar power, by 2025. An analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that such a renewable electricity standard would generate $13.5 billion in new income for farmers, ranchers, and rural landowners.

Anna Lange said, “We need to unleash the power of clean energy to rebuild our economy and solve global warming.”
 
“Environment Texas urges Representative Charles Gonzalez to vote for a strong bill that maintains science-based pollution reduction targets and speeds the transition to a clean energy economy.”