Bryan Tolar, President 

Georgia Agribusiness Council, Inc. 

P.O. Box 119 

Commerce, GA 30529 

Testimony of the Georgia Agribusiness Council in Opposition to the U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency's Proposed Changes to the Carbon Pollution Standards 

USEPA Public Hearing 

Russell Federal Building 

Atlanta, Georgia 

July 29, 2014 

Good afternoon. My name is Bryan Tolar and I am proud to be the President ofthe Georgia Agribusiness 

Council. The Council was formed in 1966 and we serve Georgia's diverse and complex agriculture 

industry representing over 850 member companies across the state. I come before you today to express 

our opposition to the proposed changes to the carbon pollution standards. 

Agriculture production and processing is an energy intensive industry and this precedent-setting rule will 

have a dramatic negative impact to agribusiness overhead. Whether it is ginning cotton, drying peanuts, 

irrigating farm fields or managing poultry and livestock housing, the substantial push to have natural gas 

as a more significant source of electricity production will substantially drive up costs for both natural gas 

and electricity. 

By far, the most intensive agricultural use of natural gas is in the production of nitrogen fertilizer, which 

is used on virtually every major crop produced in the United States. In fact, natural gas represents 

approximately eighty percent of nitrogen fertilizer production costs. Unfortunately, this rule will 

artificially increase the demand for natural gas by essentially mandating fuel-switching from coal to 

natural gas for power generation. This could ultimately result in higher costs for domestic fertilizer 

manufacturers that rely on natural gas as the primary feedstock for the production of nitrogen 

fertilizers. 

As energy consumers and producers of products that are essential to the nation's food production 

system, we are concerned with the arbitrary approach EPA has employed to create national and state 

emission reduction targets. While some have boasted energy conservation will decrease costs, food and 

fiber production will surely see increased costs on the horizon with this rule. These are costs that cannot 

be passed on to consumers. They must be absorbed by the farmers and processors as they compete in a 

global market with others that do not face the same obstructions. 

Pushing regulations that drive up the cost of agribusiness production is effectively making our country 

dependent on foreign sources for the food and fiber sectors that built America. These regulations are 

stripping away our competitive edge and handing it to China and Brazil on a silver platter. We strongly 

urge the Administration not to lose sight of its stated commitment to an "all of the above" energy 

strategy which is designed not to favor one fuel source over another. Let technology and the market 

play a role in energy production and get the heavy hands of government out of the way. 

Agriculture does not just grow food and fiber, it also grows jobs and economic opportunity. In Georgia 

alone, agriculture accounts for nearly $80 billion in annual economic impact and employs over 375,000 

people. In almost two-thirds of Georgia's counties, agribusiness and directly related industries are the 

largest or second-largest economic engines. This economic engine needs our support, not marketplace 

manipulation like these proposed changes that threaten its sustainability. Thank you for considering our 

comments today.