National Grange President, William Steel, addresses a panel on Broadband Communications in Washington, DC.

The National Grange joined other prominent agricultural organizations in a letter to the House of Representatives opposing provisions in H.R. 3221, the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2007. Title VII of the bill contained language restricting new sources of natural gas supply, reducing well completions, delaying new production, and consequently raising natural gas prices for consumers. The bill passed through the House on August 4 by a vote of 241-172.

The letter, sent by the Agriculture Energy Alliance (AEA), cited several problems not only with the legislation but also with the proceedings of Congress. The AEA particularly noted the restrictions on development on the Roan Plateau in Colorado, which was included in Title VII but was never part of any debate in the House Resources Committee. The Plateau holds an estimated 9 trillion cubic feet of gas, enough to heat 9 million homes for 9 years and benefit other consumers of natural gas.

The agricultural sector depends on natural gas for a multitude of uses, notably food processing, irrigation, crop drying, heating farms and homes, and the production of crop protection chemicals and nitrogen fertilizers. However, the AEA letter noted that farmers around the country are continuously impeded by government policies that create a demand for natural gas but restrict access to supply. The National Grange will continue to urge Congress to remove provisions that restrict the production of natural gas before any further steps are taken to pass this bill into law.

National Grange President Bill Steel addressed a panel of leading communications experts and Congressional and industry representatives on the importance of bringing broadband and Internet services to Rural America as a key to effective rural economic development. Staff members from 18 U.S. Representatives and U.S. Senators offices attended the briefing. The briefing, sponsored by the National Grange and the Grange Foundation and moderated by Legislative Director Leroy Watson, came just hours after passage of the important 2007 Farm Bill by the U.S. House of Representatives.

President Steel told briefing attendees that America’s rural communities will soon feel the impact of a fastgrowing U.S. population that is adding new Americans at a rate equal to a new city of Chicago every year. “We must assure that basic infrastructure and public services are available to everyone living in rural communities,” he said. “A keystone infrastructure for rural communities in the 21st century will be access to advanced telecommunications services like broadband and the Internet. This access will have tremendous impact on the future prosperity of our nation’s family farms and rural communities.”

The blue-ribbon communications panel included Bob Rowe, former chairman of the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service; Mark DeFalco, executive staff of the Appalachian Regional Commission; and Rick Schadelbauer, staff economist of the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association.

Steel called on Congress to implement a basic rural telecommunications plan that deploys universal rural broadband for all citizens, develops more detailed data on current broadband deployment in rural areas, generates additional demand for broadband services in underserved areas, and engages third-party service providers and payers in discussing the advantages of rural broadband deployment. Rural telecommunications services are expected to be addressed in the U.S. Senate’s version of the 2007 Farm Bill.

Earlier in the week, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry, told agricultural leaders that readily available broadband communications services are critical to the rural economic development portion of the Senate’s 2007 Farm Bill. The U.S. Senate plans to begin final work on their version of the landmark Farm Bill during the third week of September.

Copies of the communications presentations are available on the National Grange website at: www.nationalgrange.org.

National Grange Legislative Director Leroy Watson recently addressed the American Task Force for Argentina (ATFA) on the restructuring of Argentine debt and its benefits to American rural communities. The briefing was conducted by Dr. Robert Shapiro, Undersecretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs under President Clinton and co-chair of AFTA, who detailed the current crisis with the sovereign debt of Argentina at length.

Argentina, a major competitor to American farm exports, defaulted on over $100 billion in sovereign debt in 2001. Deliberately removing funds from banks subject to international rulings prior to the debt default, Argentina has attempted to deliberately lower the value of the Argentine Peso in foreign exchange markets. Coupled with current high commodity prices, the incentives for domestic exports in Argentina are very great, capturing a portion of the market that formerly belonged to American agriculture.

Normally, sovereign debt defaults would be restructured in a series of negotiations. Argentina has yet to come to a suitable compromise and refuses to bargain on the international level, instead proposing a compromise that is far below desired levels and would cost Americans more than $10 billion in investment losses. The U.S. Department of Treasury has so far supported the government of Argentina over U.S. holders of Argentine sovereign debt in U.S. court cases.

By seeking additional partnerships in AFTA, the group hopes to put pressure on the U.S. Department of Treasury to support the interests of the U.S. investors and farmers. A refusal to act would signal to other countries abroad that the United States does not have a clear and unified policy of eliminating trade distorting practices in world markets, a move that could result in further adverse affects to the American farmer.

National Grange President, William Steel, test drives the Hydrogen3 on the streets outside of the National Grange Headquarters.

National Grange President Bill Steel recently had the opportunity to test an innovative and exciting piece of technology, test-driving a prototype car powered by a hydrogen fuel cell around Washington, D.C. General Motors Vehicle Engineer Hans Peter Alhborn was on hand for the demonstration of the HydroGen3, providing Mr. Steel with a comprehensive technical survey of the automobile. The HydroGen3 is one of several models of alternatively fueled vehicles from GM to be introduced into test markets this year. The car is still in its prototype phase, though it can reach speeds of 100 mph and can drive 240 miles before the fuel cell must be recharged. While the car operates with state-of-the-art technology, it will be indistinguishable from any other vehicle on the road in its final phase, though the prototype cars are specifically designed to catch the eye. The automobile runs on an entirely electric design. The different setup allows for complete variability in structure; GM engineers have created a “skateboard-like” chassis, a structure upon which the car body of the consumers’ choosing could be placed. A small truck could potentially operate on the same chassis as a sedan or a wagon. A hydrogen-based car holds several benefits for those in rural communities. In addition to a complete lack of emissions, a wide-scale adoption of such technology could lessen the need for gasoline on a day-to-day basis. Such a benefit would be limited, however, as the most efficient means of producing hydrogen still uses natural gas as its main component. Also, the only hydrogen fueling stations to date exist in major cities such as New York, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco.

In a joint letter with Consumer Action, the National Grange wrote a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to approve a proposal by TracFone Wireless, Inc. seeking permission to serve Lifeline customers. If enacted as proposed, the new Lifeline monthly phone service program would reduce eligible consumers’ monthly charges for basic telephone service. Lifeline telephone programs provide access to basic telephone service to low-income Americans. It is supported by the national Universal Service Fund, which derives its financial resources from a monthly surcharge on all long distance telephone bills. More than 21 million American households are currently eligible for Lifeline assistance with their monthly phone bills. However, only one-third of all eligible households currently use the service, or 6.8 million out of the 21 million eligible customers. Also only “wireline” phone companies are currently eligible to provide Lifeline service. The National Grange believes that extending the Lifeline program to include wireless telephone service providers would give many lowincome households across the country an additional resource to stay connected in the modern world.

The petition to the FCC would designate TracFone as an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier in Virginia, Florida, Massachusetts, and New York. In comments to the FCC the National Grange noted that “Any increase in the size of the fund would be minimal and is outweighed by the benefit of increasing participation in the Lifeline program, furthering the statutory goal of providing access to low-in-come consumers.” With the increasing digital divide and the decline in public telephones, low-income households have limited or no access to necessary emergency contact services, practical means of telecommunications, or amenities like voice and text messaging. This proposal would help to fulfill an important social imperative – ensuring that all Americans are able to have access to advanced telephone technologies, regardless of income or geography. Every American deserves to have access to wireless and competitive telecommunications services.

Acknowledging the need for improvements in fuel economy standards, the National Grange, in association with the Standing Up for SUV, Pickup and Van Owners of America group (SUVOA), recently advocated support of H.R. 2927, the bill introduced by Baron Hill and chiefly supported by Lee Terry. The bill would require aggressive, yet reasonable fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks.

Establishing the standard at 32-35 miles per gallon, the restrictions would achieve proper fuel economy while providing the opportunity to sustain certain necessities of a rural lifestyle. The bill that passed through the Senate would cut SUV and large pickup truck sales by almost two-thirds. Fuel economy standards that are overly aggressive would produce results like those seen in 1978 with the initial establishment of CAFE standards; the long-term consequences of those measures effectively ended towing capacity in the passenger car.

Reasonable fuel economy standards would allow vehicles to be used to their full potential, whether that is carrying many passengers comfortably, provided a safe vehicle for families, haul materials and tools for construction, working on farms and ranches, towing boats and trailers, or even something as simple as providing an effective carpool.