The U.S. Farmers and Ranchers for a Green New Deal coalition held a press conference on Capitol Hill Wednesday, along with a handful of Democrats from the House of Representatives.
Sherri Dugger is an Indiana farmer who co-chairs the new coalition.
She says a lot of the farmers that she talks to every day don’t understand what the Green New Deal is about.
“I’m here to say we need to be involved in this discussion and we need to be at the table to have our voices heard,” she says.
The coalition delivered a letter to Congress that calls for farming to have a key place in meeting the goals of the Green New Deal, which seeks to get to net-zero emissions between 2030-2050.
The coalition says the U.S. economy needs to move away from fossil fuels and transition “toward family farm-based organic and regenerative farming.”
The group also favors land-use practices that improve soil health and draws down and sequesters carbon.
The coalition’s announcement this week is timed to coincide with the global Climate Strike event on Friday.