The United States House of Representatives Select Committee on the Climate Crisis met Thursday morning, with a voice from south central Iowa providing testimony. Lacona farmer Matt Russell, who is also the Executive Director of Iowa Interfaith Power & Light, told Congress the importance of having rural America lead the way on climate change.

“American farmers can again lead the world into the future, that is even more abundant than our past. We have a mountain of research, powerful technological tools, and pioneering farmers across the country, already starting to manage their farms to not only produce the goods the world demands, but to provide the environmental services this crisis requires.”

The testimony included providing incentives to farmers to adapt to new practices, including paying farmers directly for carbon farming as an action Congress should consider taking. Russell told Congress the same type of revolution the world saw during the population boom of the 1950’s is necessary, where American farmers changed practices to better feed the growing world population.