The House Agriculture Committee yesterday released the language of an amendment by Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN), which Rep. Waxman has agreed to accept as part of the final House climate change bill in order to secure support from Peterson and other farm-state representatives. Peterson represents a large, heavily ag-dependent district in central and western Minnesota, and makes no apologies for his desire to protect the interests of farmers in his district and elsewhere. From that perspective, the Peterson-Waxman deal represents one of Peterson’s most significant legislative accomplishments to date as Ag Committee chairman. From the point of view of environmentalists, however, the deal involves some major concessions to the ag and forestry sectors, and a serious weakening of the bill.

Peterson's amendment notably exempts the ag and forestry sectors from , and moves authority to draw up and administer rules for offset credits generated by those industries to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The bill still requires that offset credits be awarded only to activities generating GHG emission reductions that are “additional to” any reductions that would have occurred anyway in the absence of the credit -- the so-called “additionality” requirement. But the Peterson amendment defines …