By Fred Lucas
Eleven state agriculture commissioners called on the Trump administration and Congress to yank funding from United Nations programs that they say are hurting American farmers.
鈥淭he federal government should stop using American taxpayer dollars to fund the United Nations International Maritime Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and the United Nations Environment Program, because each of these organizations鈥 net-zero policies will have devastating effects on American consumers, farmers, and ranchers, and further endanger food security for the poor in America,鈥 said the July 1 letter.
鈥淣et-zero鈥 refers to policies that aim to reduce the net amount of carbon emissions to zero by the year 2050, either by fully eliminating them or by offsetting them.
The letter continues:
The U.S. should also eliminate funding for these organizations due to the harmful effects of their policies on American agriculture. The U.S. contributed (by far) the largest share of any country to FAO鈥檚 [Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations] 2023 budget, accounting for $391 million of the $1.5 billion total. This contribution was over two-and-a-half times more than the second-highest contributor (Germany with $154 million). And the U.S. was the second largest contributor to UNEP [United Nations Environment Program] in 2023, providing over $49 million of a $502.6 million budget. The U.S. (one of IMO鈥檚 [United Nations International Maritime Organization] 176 member states) contributed $1.5 million of IMO鈥檚 $20 million 2023 budget, making it the 14th-largest funder of the IMO.
The letter went to Trump Cabinet officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
It also went to Senate and House Budget Committee Chairmen Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Jody Arrington, R-Texas, respectively, as well as Senate and House Agriculture Committee Chairmen John Boozman, R-Ark., and Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., among other members of Congress.
Elected and appointed state agriculture officials signed the letter, arguing that the U.N. agencies鈥 net-zero policies violate President Donald Trump鈥檚 executive order to withdraw from U.N. groups that have strayed from their missions.
鈥淲e continue to see programs being funded by U.S. taxpayers that are pushing a radical climate agenda through the agriculture industry,鈥 said Will Hild, executive director of Consumers鈥 Research, a group that has teamed up with state officials in the past to combat taxpayer funding of left-leaning causes.
鈥淭he Trump administration has made it clear that energy policies should be focused on unleashing America鈥檚 energy dominance, not woke, net-zero policies. America鈥檚 farmers and ranchers don鈥檛 just feed our nation; they feed the world,鈥 Hild added in a public statement. 鈥淭hese programs that require compliance with a radical climate agenda undermine American farmers and ranchers, threaten to drive up costs for consumers, and weaken food security for working families.鈥
The elected and appointed state officials signing the letter were all from Republican-leaning states. They were Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson, Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Tyler Harper, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig, Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture Jonathan Shell, Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture Andy Gipson, Missouri Director of Agriculture Chris Chinn, Nebraska Director of Agriculture Sherry Vinton, North Dakota Commissioner of Agriculture Doug Goehring, South Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture Hugh Weathers, Texas Commissioner of Agriculture Sid Miller, and West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Kent Leonhardt.