ALBANY — “Family dairy farms across New York have worked for generations to preserve our natural resources by implementing science-based research and management practices, and collaborating with experts at state agencies, Cornell, and local Soil & Water Districts. As the U.S. dairy industry continues to work to meet its own net zero emissions goal by 2050, NEDPA is encouraged by the Climate Action Committee’s decision to recognize agriculture as part of the state’s solution to reducing GHG emissions.
Providing the state’s own environmental conservation experts the opportunity to consider a clean fuel standard is the right decision. A CFS will reduce transportation’s reliance on fossil fuels and improve public health, and without the reliance on state tax funding. NY’s dairy farms are primed to play a significant role in meeting the state’s carbon reduction goals, and a CFS is the best incentive to accomplish this since the industry is unique and cannot pass increased costs on to consumers.
NEDPA also fully supports the use of renewable natural gas as part of a multi-pronged approach to reducing the state’s carbon footprint. New York can lead the nation in technological advances and R&D that improve our ability to mitigate enteric methane emissions from dairy cows. Dairy cows are critical to farmers’ environmental stewardship efforts as they are part of a natural carbon cycle, they help recycle waste that would otherwise go to a landfill, and they provide the material needed for anaerobic digestion.
We look forward to continuing to work with our elected leaders and state agencies in the months ahead, including identifying investments in the dairy industry that will provide the tools necessary to continue on this path forward.”
The Northeast Dairy Producers Association (NEDPA) is an organization of dairy producers and industry partners committed to an economically viable, consumer-conscious dairy industry dedicated to the care and well-being of our communities, environment, employees, and cows. Learn more at www.nedpa.org.
—Northeast Dairy Producers Association
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