Climate Changers: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack
Part of a series profiling key players in environmental politics. Read more>> Who he is: U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack Green cred: Farmers and environmentalists don’t always see eye-to-eye — think toxic pesticides, fertilizers, and genetically modified crops, just to name a few agricultural practices that cause controversy. Tom Vilsack is trying to serve as something of a conflict resolution negotiator. A former governor of Iowa, Vilsack is hoping to bridge the divide between farming and environmentalism — both care immensely about the quality of the land — and promote a clean energy future for everyone. "They really do need to talk to you," Vilsack told the board of the Natural Resources Defense Council in March. "And you need to talk to them." When he took over the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) last year, Vilsack said production agriculture, the colossal, industrialized operations that have taken over farming, "is part of the problem, and it can and needs to be part of the solution. … This department will help wean big growers from fossil fuels." Why he has skeptics: Some in the green movement decried Vilsack’s nomination, noting that he was an advocate of genetically modified crops and controversial biofuels. Influential food author Michael Pollan told NPR in 2008, "It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that this is agribusiness as usual." However, just over a year later, Pollan now says Vilsack has surprised him. He appointed reform-minded Kathleen Merrigan as his top deputy. He has emphasized local agriculture through the Know Your Farmer program. And he took a jackhammer to a stretch of pavement outside of USDA headquarters with the aim of creating a community garden. Pollan told OnEarth that he sees all of this as "very hopeful stuff, and (he’s) saying many of the right things." But he cautions that Vilsack has also thrown important appointments to proponents of chemical agriculture and biotechnology. "My sense is he’s pursuing a big-tent strategy." What he’s done: Last December, the USDA teamed with 56,000 dairy farmers to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020. (Cows’ burps and flatulence emit methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gases — a 2006 United Nations report said the world’s rapidly growing herds of livestock are more polluting than cars.) The USDA also plans to spend an additional $90 million over the next four years to fund climate change research to advance hardier food systems that require less carbon to maintain. And Vilsack helped restore the nationwide Roadless Rule, which protects large tracts of the national forest system (which fall under the control of the U.S. Forest Service, an agency of the USDA) from road building, a ban that will help species more easily migrate as climate change causes shifts in habitat. He has also been one of the administration’s strongest voices in favor of climate legislation and the potential of biofuels. Humble beginnings: Placed in a Catholic orphanage days after his birth in Pittsburgh in 1950, he was called "Kenneth" until Bud and Dolly Vilsack, a real estate agent and a homemaker, adopted him, naming him "Thomas." How he got into politics: Vilsack was working as a lawyer at his father-in-law’s firm in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, when the mayor of the town was shot and killed by a disgruntled resident during a city council meeting. Vilsack ran for the unexpected opening and won. Most improbable victory: When Vilsack ran for governor in 1998, a Democrat hadn’t been elected to that position in more than 30 years. The GOP held the state House and the state Senate, as well. Iowa was well managed, running a budget surplus, with unemployment down to 3 percent. Why would voters want a change? Vilsack championed education and business incentives to make Iowa "the Silicon Valley of food." On election night, he was watching the movie All the President’s Men when then-Vice President Al Gore called with the news that Vilsack had come from 20 points behind to win.
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Climate Changers: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack