The American Farmland Trust estimates that, based on the world’s current climate trajectory, a total of nearly 450,000 acres of American farmland will experience coastal flooding by 2040 and other types of severe weather events like extreme droughts and wildfires “pose huge risks for agriculture.” The group also anticipates America’s farmers will experience even more crop damage from pests, pathogens, and viral diseases, which currently cause up to 40% of crop production losses around the world.
As America’s farmers and their rural communities face income loss from increasing extreme weather, political advocacy groups funded by polluting industries continue to attack clean energy and responsible investing practices that aim to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Consumers’ Research: Backed by rightwing judicial activist Leonard Leo, Consumers’ Research, an anti-responsible investing organization, most recently launched a campaign that aims to galvanize farmers and ranchers against responsible investing by suggesting that “ESG kills farms.” Since the campaign’s launch, Consumers’ Research has sent letters to Congressional leadership and sponsored content on disinformation platform Breitbart citing data from The Buckeye Institute, a research firm notorious for its deep ties to right-wing funders from the oil and gas industry like the Koch brothers.
But it’s not just advocacy groups – elected leaders who have received millions in campaign contributions from polluting industries also represent some of the hardest-hit farming communities.
Texas: Texas farmers’ crop insurance payouts due to drought in the state, driven in part by carbon emissions from fossil fuels, increased from $251 million per year in the 2000s to $1.1 billion per year between 2020-2024. In 2022 specifically, a severe statewide drought caused nearly $8 billion in direct agricultural losses and Texas’ cotton farmers lost $2.1 billion in total economic activity, according to the Texas Comptroller. The latest Census of Agriculture showed that Texas lost over 17,700 farms between 2017 and 2022.
- Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton have taken over $57 million in combined lifetime campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry.
- Gov. Abbott and other Texas legislators have led the U.S. in anti-ESG legislation and rhetoric, banning public entities from engaging in responsible investing and essentially enforcing a mandate to invest in fossil fuels.
Kansas: According to data from the American Farm Bureau Federation, Kansas ranked second to Texas in estimated damages from natural disasters in 2023, with over $3 billion in losses. A new study conducted by researchers at Kansas State University found that for every 1⁰C of warming, net Kansas farm income decreased by 66%, which translates to a loss of about $43,000 for an average farm. Looking ahead, a temperature rise comparable to the 2012 drought, one of the most significant droughts in recent years, would result in a staggering 105% reduction in net farm income for an average farm in Kansas.
- In April 2023, anti-ESG legislation SB 2100 became law in the state to restrict agencies from implementing ESG factors, among other regulations. Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, one of the drafters of the original ESG investment bill who also endorsed the new law, has taken over a hundred thousands dollars in campaign contributions from the energy and natural gas sectors.
- Shortly after the law passed, Kansas’ own State Division of the Budget projected reduced returns of $3.6 billion over 10 years for the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System if anti-ESG investment restrictions were adopted.
