[MCN] With Weyerhauser at the table, Sec. Vilack to talk climate-smart ag, forestry

[Lance Olsen]

Media Advisory No. 0028.16 USDA Office of Communications.

Contact:
USDA Office of Communications (202) 720-4623

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to Announce 
Major Investment for Conservation, Results of 
Climate-Smart Agriculture Plan at Center for 
American Progress

WASHINGTON, May 9, 2016 - THURSDAY, Agriculture 
Secretary Tom Vilsack will deliver keynote 
remarks and announce a major new investment in 
conservation practices that improve soil, water, 
plant, animal, air and related natural resources 
on agricultural land and non-industrial private 
forestlands at the Center for American Progress. 
Following his address, Secretary Vilsack will be 
joined by executives from Land O'Lakes, 
Weyerhaeuser, and the Environmental Defense Fund 
for a panel discussion on climate-smart 
agriculture and forestry.

Building on the Obama Administration's commitment 
to adapt to challenges presented by climate 
change, Secretary Vilsack unveiled the Building 
Blocks for Climate Smart Agriculture in April 
2015, an innovative framework to reduce 
greenhouse gas emissions, increase carbon storage 
and generate clean renewable energy across the 
agricultural sector. On Thursday, Secretary 
Vilsack will share the first results of the 
Building Blocks framework and the actions USDA 
has taken to help farmers, ranchers, and 
forestland owners respond to climate change over 
the past year.

Since 2009, USDA investments in climate change 
research and conservation programs have helped 
agricultural producers in the U.S. reduce net 
greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 60 
million metric tons annually. Using the building 
blocks framework, we expect to reduce net 
greenhouse gas emissions and enhance carbon 
sequestration by over 120 million metric tons of 
CO2 equivalent per year by 2025, bringing us 
closer to reaching our national goal of reducing 
greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 28 percent 
below 2005 levels by 2025.

WHAT:
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will address 
advancements in climate-smart agriculture and 
announce a major new investment for conservation 
stewardship at the Center for American Progress. 
Following his address, Secretary Vilsack will be 
joined by executives from Land O'Lakes, 
Weyerhaeuser, and the Environmental Defense Fund 
for a panel discussion on climate-smart 
agriculture and forestry.

WHERE:
Center for American Progress
1333 H Street, N.W.
10th Floor
Washington, D.C.

WHEN:
Thursday, May 12, 2016
10 a.m. EDT
Members of the media who wish to attend may RSVP here.

-- 
================== Net Primary Production/Solar 
budget for life on Earth 
==========================

"Only about a tenth of 1 percent of the energy 
received from the sun by the earth is fixed by 
photosynthesis ...."

"Worldwide it is about the equivalent to the 
annual production of between 150 and 200 billion 
tons of dry organic matter  ... "

"It is solar energy that moves the rabbit, the 
deer, the whale, the boy on the bicycle outside 
my window, my pencil as I write these wordsŠ 
Expanding human activities are requiring a larger 
fraction of the total and are paradoxically 
making large segments of it less useful in 
support of man."

Woodwell, George.
"The Energy Cycle of the Biosphere."
Scientific American. September, 1970

=============================================================================
What causes the inverse relationship between 
primary production and export efficiency in the 
Southern Ocean?
Frédéric A. C. Le Moigne, Stephanie A. Henson, 
Emma Cavan, Clément Georges, Katsiaryna 
Pabortsava, Eric P. Achterberg, Elena 
Ceballos_Romero, Mike Zubkov, Richard J. Sanders

Geophysical Research Letters
First Published: 7 May 2016

KEY POINTS
o	High productivity low export regions are 
widespread in the Southern Ocean
o	This may be due to high surface bacterial 
activity and low fecal pellet export in high PP 
regions
o	These two processes must be implemented in POC export algorithms
o
Open Access
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2016GL068480/full
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