Comment Log Display

April 6, 2016


Ladies & Gentlemen:

American Farmland Trust hereby respectfully submits the attached
white paper in response to the call for comments on the 2030 Target
Scoping Plan Update for the Natural and Working Lands sector. 

As outlined in our paper, minimizing the conversion of agricultural
lands will have a significant climate benefit, and is essential to
achieving California’s greenhouse gas reduction goals. 

We recommend that the Scoping Plan Update incorporate a goal of
reducing the statewide farmland conversion rate – now 42,000 acres
per year – by 50% by the year 2030 and by 75% by the year 2050. We
estimate that achieving this goal would save almost 700,000 acres
of California’s irreplaceable farmland and avoid 315 million tons
of greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century.

We appreciate your consideration of our comments and welcome the
opportunity to further contribute to the formulation of
California’s climate targets.

Respectfully,


Edward Thompson, Jr.
California Director
American Farmland Trust

Original File Name: AFT NWL Comments.zip

Date and Time Comment Was Submitted: 2016-04-06 15:53:25