Helping Agriculture Adapt to a Changing Climate, including a Public Meeting of the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force

The impacts of changing weather and climate are projected to be significant for U.S. farmers and ranchers. Impacts already are being felt across the country and around the world. In 2009 the U.S. Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force at the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) was tasked with developing federal recommendations for adapting to climate change impacts. In support of this effort, USDA and CEQ will host a meeting on July 19, 2010, at the DoubleTree Hotel in Denver, Colorado, to present the science behind climate change and its impacts on agriculture, highlight the potential for adaptation, layout Federal adaptation efforts and future plans, and solicit much needed input from agricultural producers. As a part of this meeting, USDA and CEQ will hold a public meeting of the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force in the afternoon. The entire day of meetings is open to the public. For more information, agenda updates, and to RSVP, please visit www.ncar.ucar.edu/resrel.

This stakeholder meeting represents an important opportunity for the farm community to offer feedback, and will include a wide range of stakeholders, including farm groups, trade groups, commodity groups, agritech and agribusiness representatives, insurance representatives, environmental/conservation groups, and local/national land managers/producers.

When:

July 19, 2010; 9:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (including the public meeting of the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force from 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.)

Where:

Double Tree Hotel Denver
3203 Quebec Street
Denver, CO 80207
www.denver.doubletree.com

Webcast:

The afternoon meeting of the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force may be viewed by Webcast at: http://psav.mediasite.com/mediasite/Viewer/
?peid=2ab591de3fba4208aa7d537d43115bd41d.

Background:

In 2010, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) initiated the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force, which includes representatives from more than 20 Federal Agencies. When the President signed the Executive Order on Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance, on October 5, 2009, he called on the Task Force to develop, within one year, Federal recommendations for adapting to climate change impacts both domestically and internationally.

On March 16, 2010, the Task Force released an Interim Progress Report which outlines the Task Force’s progress to date and recommends key components to include in a national strategy on climate change adaptation. The Interim Progress Report can be viewed online at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/
initiatives/adaptation.