Censoring ‘climate’ in ag research will backfire, warns The Breakthrough Institute

Blocking federal funding for R&D projects mentioning ‘climate change,’ ‘greenhouse gas emissions,’ and related terms “would directly undermine US farmers’ competitiveness and long-term output,” warns a new report from environmental think tankThe Breakthrough Institute.The Trump administration has already cancelled agricultural research projects funded by USAID, frozen funds for USDA’s Climate-Smart Commodities initiative, and proposed terminating USDA conservation projects that mention climate change.According to a leaked USDA memo the USDA’s agricultural research service (ARS) says agreements with terms such as “climate change” or “climate smart agriculture” should not be submitted to the “Exceptions Request to the Agreements Moratorium List.”It is unclear what this memo means, Breakthrough Institute director of food & agriculture Dan Blaustein-Rejto told AgFunderNews. “Our best interpretation is that it applies to grants and cooperative agreements that ARS has with universities and o...