USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack Wednesday at a White House press briefing acknowledged a USDA carbon bank will likely need some action from Congress to get off the ground. However, he also noted farmers expressed support and interest in the bank and USDA's broader climate-smart ag push during a session this week alongside Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan.
A reporter pressed Vilsack on whether a proposed USDA carbon bank would require congressional approval -- something Senate Ag Committee Ranking Member John Boozman, R-Ark., and others have asserted.
"Well, it needs congressional approval in the sense that you have resources in all of these programs that require funding," Vilsack responded. "We have a lot of flexibility already at USDA, and we're going to be utilizing that flexibility in a way that creates more, new and better markets," he added, though he did not elaborate on what specific flexibility he was referring to.
This indicates USDA's ability to establish and run a carbon bank using authority under the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is not at all assured with Vilsack's indication that some congressional action will be needed.