{"id":47364,"date":"2025-04-03t19:50:22","date_gmt":"2025-04-03t19:50:22","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/?p=47364"},"modified":"2025-04-03t19:50:23","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03t19:50:23","slug":"engaging-farmers-climate-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/engaging-farmers-climate-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"crossing the climate divide | how one advocate engages rural farmers in the climate conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

for more than a decade, alex amonette has dedicated hours to connecting with farmers on climate change. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
alex amonette, writer with citizens climate lobby. (courtesy of alex amonette)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

amonette, who lives in rural southwestern montana as a full time technical writer, has volunteered with the citizens climate lobby (ccl) since 2013, working to promote bipartisan climate policies to congress. her passion for climate change began during an internship in washington, d.c. where a conversation about climate change and listening to dr. james hansens\u2019s warnings pushed her towards advocating for solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

read the interview with amonette below.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

editor\u2019s note: this interview has been edited for length and clarity<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

maggie rhoads:<\/strong> how do you connect with farmers on climate change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

alex amonette:<\/strong> i help get columns written in local newspapers through the media. there are little rural towns across the state of montana, and they each have a newspaper. that’s a good place to tell stories about how climate impacts farmers and ranchers. my job is to make friends with many of the editors of these newspapers and submit our articles to them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

mr:<\/strong> how do farmers feel about climate change? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

aa:<\/strong> it varies. some people don’t want to talk about it. you get a lot of farmers and ranchers who want to put solar panels up and nobody has talked to them about climate change. they are just trying to cut their electric bills in half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

mr: <\/strong>i\u2019m assuming these farmers who put renewable energy sources such as solar panels and wind onto their properties just to save money are getting any benefits from the inflation reduction act or the bipartisan infrastructure law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

aa:<\/strong> the inflation reduction act helped fund a program administered by the usda called reap, or the rural energy for america program. until the trump administration, that program was going into full force. now it’s frozen, and many of these ranchers and farmers were counting on reap funding that was funded by the inflation reduction act to put solar panels on their barns and things like that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

mr:<\/strong> what policies should be implemented to address climate change concerning farmers? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

aa:<\/strong> we’re advocating for preserving clean energy tax credits from the inflation reduction act. no republicans voted for the inflation reduction act. however, many states like texas took advantage of the clean energy tax credits and they’ve got many windmills. they’re not doing it for renewable energy because they believe in climate change. they’re doing it because it’s a great opportunity to have more of a diversified renewable energy source. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

mr: <\/strong>does your status as a rural citizen make it easier for you to connect with people like farmers about climate change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

aa:<\/strong> oh yeah, i’m surrounded by ranchers and farmers. i’m talking to ranchers and farmers all the time. there are some people, a dear friend passed away from covid-19 a few years ago, but she and her husband deliver eggs. he is a fox news listener and never wanted to discuss climate change with me, but i really enjoyed them. they were my good friends, and i could count on them as neighbors. the fact that we disagreed on climate change never came between us, not as an issue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

mr:<\/strong> is he a believer in climate change? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

aa:<\/strong> no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

mr:<\/strong> no? he doesn’t believe in it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

aa: <\/strong>no, he followed rush limbaugh for years. and, you know, climate change was a hoax, and you can’t talk to him about it. he says, oh, that’s for the birds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

mr: <\/strong>so he shuts down the conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

aa:<\/strong> yeah. it’s like, you’re joking, alex, get out of here. however, i also want to tell you that it’s getting easier to talk to people who their whole life have voted republican. maybe they don’t believe in climate change. and that’s not to say that there aren’t a lot of republicans who know that climate change is happening. my senator knows that climate change is happening. he’s seen the data. he can tell it’s happening. he may not want to talk about it because he doesn’t want to lose a chance of getting re-elected, and a large part of his base doesn’t believe in climate change. it was a taboo topic to talk about, but that doesn’t matter anymore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

mr: <\/strong>so people would rather talk about the economics behind climate change benefiting them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

aa:<\/strong> some people don’t want to talk about it. i want to tell you a little anecdote. one time, i was at a farmer’s market. i had some leaflets, talking about the carbon fee and cash back policy. i handed one to these guys, and they looked a bit, and both of them just started ranting at me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cyou know, girly, carbon dioxide has been around forever. it’s part of the carbon cycle.\u201d they went on for 20 minutes, talking at me instead of with me about climate change. and i relax. it was a hot day. i had lemonade. i just sipped my lemonade, listened to them, and nodded, just listened to them. and after a while, they got tired of talking to me and said, \u201cwell, thank you for listening.\u201d i said it was my pleasure. i learned a lot talking to you guys. would you like me to explain why i’m standing here with this leaflet about this policy? and they said, well, ok. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

and i think that part of the problem is that people don’t feel listened to. so listen to people, let them rant. give them the time of day. let them tell you what their concerns are, you know, and then, when it’s appropriate, talk with them. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

in rural montana, one volunteer works to engage farmers in the conversation on climate change and advocate for bipartisan climate policies in congress. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4919,4916,4899],"tags":[],"storyfest_categories":[],"class_list":["post-47364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-agriculture","category-climate","category-policy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nhow one advocate engages farmers in the climate conversation - planet forward<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"in rural montana, one volunteer works to engage farmers in the conversation on climate change and advocate for solutions.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/engaging-farmers-climate-conversation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"how one advocate engages farmers in the climate conversation - 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