BioChar 4: The USA Secretary of Agriculture (created 8-11-09)

Yesterday, at the North American Biochar Conference - 2009, the Secretary of the USDA spoke with us for an hour. I had no intention of devoting a blog to what he had to say, but it was too good not to pass on.

Whether you voted for President Obama or not, (I did not), you should admit that he is doing things in a different way. When he was still President-Elect Obama, he asked Tom Vilsack to be his Secretary of Agriculture. He told Mr. Vilsack, that if he accepted, that he had two main expectations.

The two main expectations were that the Department of Agriculture would be engaged in 1) leading the country off of fossil fuels and in 2) creating a more vibrant rural economy.

Secretary Vilsack summed up the driving force behind those two instructions in four imperatives which President Obama has recognized.
1) There is significant risk in not taking action in stopping global warming. It will create more violent weather and will affect agriculture and animal health and human health.
2) Leading the way is important to our national security. The world expects the USA to lead and when we don't, we further loose credibility in the eyes of the rest of the world.
3) The USA needs better energy security. We need alternative ways to produce everything.
4) The USA needs a stronger rural economy so it is viable for families to move back to rural areas.

Mr. Vilsack spoke about how the administration is now recognizing biochar production coupled with energy production as one of the ways to meet all four of these imperatives. Biochar production removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and keeps it out of the atmosphere much longer then growing biomass does. There is a real opportunity for the USA to research and figure out the details of making different types of biochar to match the needs of local soils around the globe. There is a significant amount of electricity and space heating which can be done with the heat released while making biochar. The potential size of the new rural markets for making biochar/energy is estimated at between 5 and 20 billion dollars per year.

Mr. Vilsack answered questions for about 30 minutes. This author was very impressed with the answers. In response to one question about the budget set for the forest service, Mr. Vilsack outlined the 4 goals he has set for the USDA to use in creating its 2011 budget. All funded activities in the USDA in 2011 will have to address at least one of those four goals. The goals are:
1) Wealth creation opportunities for rural economies.
2) Support the forest service.
3) Global security and expansion of trade
4) Ensuring all children has safe, nutritious balanced meals.

That is the type of goal setting and holding people accountable for their activities and spending that I am used to in a successful private business. I was glad to see it being enacted in a governmental bureaucracy. I wish Mr. Vilsack all the success in the world.

Bye for now, Doug