Sterling Terrain V02 - Flipbook - Page 10
8 | Sterling College
Look to
the Land
Written By
Ramsey McPhillips ‘78
Climate change is happening.
Arguing whether glacial melt and extreme weather are man made or just part
of the planet’s natural cycle is a waste
of time. And it is time we humans don’t
have to spare if we wish to continue existing in a balanced environment.
What’s important is to participate actively in decarbonizing the atmosphere,
reducing CO2 and methane gas without
torpedoing the economy.
The quickest and most surefire way to
achieve measurable reductions in global
carbon pollution is eliminating the need
for landfills and sequestering carbon
into the soil.
Waste Management, a private waste
disposal company serving Oregon, is in
the process of closing its local methane-spewing Riverbend Landfill, which
is surrounded by some of the best soil
in the world. Keeping garbage rates low
by reducing the need for landfilling, and
paying local farmers to solve our planetary imbalance through carbon sequestration in the soil, are essential to
de-carbonization going forward.
Mark my word, this fight againstcarbon
pollution will be won by those who embrace and support agriculture as the
cure to climate change. Given the crisis, and McMinnville, Oregon’s options
for helping provide an agrarian solution,
it’s no surprise this is already happening
locally.
But first, what has been happening recently in the national climate change
arena? In August 2022, the U.S. Senate
passed the landmark Inflation Reduction
Act, which includes more than $369 billion to curtail climate change. This bill’s
investment in clean energy manufacturing will create 1.5 million new jobs and
significantly reduce our energy costs
as we finally wean ourselves away from
fossil fuels.
Photo: Compliments of Ramsey McPhillips
It’s estimated that when this act is fully
instituted, it will slash U.S. greenhouse
gas emissions to 40 percent below peak
2005 levels by 2030.
The portion of the bill directly affecting
the agricultural sector includes $20 billion to support farmers moving to a regenerative way of growing our food. The
funds will be allocated to farmers that
utilize practices that reduce nutrient
loss, stifle greenhouse gasses, and sequester carbon in the soil. The dairy industry is especially pleased with the Inflation Reduction Act, as it will go a long
way toward helping the industry fulfill its
net zero goal by 2050.
So how does this affect McMinnville? A
lot, if we play our cards right.
The Willamette Valley is blessed with
highly fertile farmland and many farmers are already moving to regenerative
practices. These farmers are plowing
less, planting cover crops, and building
soil health with organic material.
Federal dollars will shortly be made available to the dairies, livestock producers,
orchardists, grain producers, and vine-
yards moving to sink carbon into their
soils. This will create local jobs and go a
long way to stifle climate change.
It’s about time subsidies now going to
the petroleum industry — the root cause
of our carbon pollution — are shifted to
the farmers, the people who many believe can save us.
In the form of oil, carbon is pumped
and burned to the point of choking our
planet. Farmers, however, reverse the
extraction of carbon from the earth and
instead lock it back into the ground in
the form of organic material and roots.
As a result, Yamhill County is quickly
becoming a noted hub of regenerative
agriculture. Leading the way are Tabula Rasa Farms and its Kookoolan Farms
partner in Carlton; the Big Table Farms
and Maysara winery operations; farmto-table restaurants such as Okta and
Humble Spirit in McMinnville; and the
Mac Market, which has been selling regenerative farm produce, along with
meats and meals, from its quarters on
Alpine Avenue.