Vilsack says he'll focus on climate change initiatives in second stint as agriculture secretary

Tom Vilsack, President Biden's nominee for secretary of agriculture, pledged Tuesday to focus on climate change initiatives and work to address racial inequities in agricultural assistance programs. In testimony before the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, he said he'd bring on-the-job experience to the position. If anything, this was an understatement, since Vilsack has already served as secretary of agriculture — for an eight-year stint during the Obama administration. "It's not lost on me, ironically, that this is Groundhog Day, and I realize that I'm back again," Vilsack told the committee. Seventy-year-old Vilsack, also the former two-term governor of Iowa, sought to dispel concerns that he would be returning to the job with antiquated ideas. "This is a fundamentally different time," he said, referencing a need to rebuild parts of the country's agricultural infrastructure in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.In his testimony, Vilsack endorsed boosting climate-friendly agricultural industries such as the creation of biofuels. "Agriculture is one of our first and best ways to get some wins in this climate area," he said. He proposed "building a rural economy based on biomanufacturing" and "turning agricultural waste into a variety of products." He pledged to work closely with the Environmental Protection Agency to "spur the industry" on biofuels...MORE