omplex
problems require detailed solutions underpinned by a clear
vision of the future. When each of those problems
individually seems
almost intractable, the need for an overarching view of the desired
outcome becomes all the more important. Without a doubt that is the
case today when policymakers confront global warming, global poverty,
energy security, and global free trade.All four issues boast
numerous
problems and challenges. Yet consider a vision of the world
where renewable energy extracted sustainably from crops and
agricultural wastes across the planet fuels a new farm economy that
simultaneously produces food and fuel amid economically robust and
environmentally sound rural landscapes. This new way of thinking about
agriculture and rural communities
worldwide offers a way past our
world’s unsustainable reliance on fossil fuels and our inability to
build a global trading community that enriches farmers worldwide. Once
embraced, this new vision offers humanity a viable approach to help
reverse the dire effects of climate change.These are bold
visions. The tools needed to craft this new rural economy, however, are
within the grasp of the new 110th Congress, which this year must
reauthorize our nation’s farm legislation. At the same time, the latest
round of World Trade Organization negotiations remains on the brink of
final collapse due to seemingly insurmountable disputes over farm
subsidies and tariffs. Congress this year has the chance to hurdle past
these obstacles by enacting agricultural policies that create a clean
and prosperous countryside in the United States and around the world.