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I write on behalf of the California Climate and Agriculture Network
(CalCAN), a coalition of the state’s leading sustainable and
organic agriculture organizations. California agriculture has a
great diversity of climate change solutions to offer, as
highlighted in the Scoping Plan Discussion Draft, and discussed
below.

Many of these climate solutions not only reduce potent greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions and increase carbon sequestration, but also
make our farms and ranches more resilient to increasing weather
extremes brought on by rising temperatures. We cannot achieve a
climate resilient and smart agriculture without bold goals and
actions. We must also provide the resources necessary to achieve
those goals: research, education, technical assistance and
financial incentives to make climate change mitigation and
adaptation accessible for our 76,000 farms and ranches. 

The Discussion Draft highlights the urgent need for action, but
offers a tempered vision for agricultural solutions to climate
change—one that we do not think will meet the Governor’s call for
bold climate change actions or adequately meet the state’s
ambitious, but necessary GHG reduction goals. Below we suggest an
alternative vision that is ambitious, practical and necessary for
California to remain a leader in agricultural production and in
climate change action.