Agribusiness group readies to lobby on climate change

A coalition of agribusiness and environmental groups focused on climate policy has formally registered to lobby.

The big picture: The Biden administration is vowing to boost the Agriculture Department's work on climate change.

The latest: The Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance (FACA) has tapped the Russell Group, a newly public filing shows.

• Lobbyists include Karla Thieman. She held senior Agriculture Department roles during President Obama's second term and before that worked in Congress.

Why it matters: FACA, which launched in November, is made up of big names on K Street and the green world.

• Members include the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the Food Industry Association, and the Nature Conservancy.

FACA is promoting recommendations around areas like...

• Carbon sequestration incentives for farmers, ranchers and forest owners.
• Creation and oversight of private-sector emissions credits markets.
• Incentives for farmers to conserve energy and use more renewables.
• More R&D around emissions-cutting in the agriculture, forest and food system.

What they're saying: "We’ve had interest from Congress and the administration in implementing our recommendations, so we’re taking this step to advance conversations," says Chandler Green, an EDF spokesperson, in response to a query about the lobbying.