571-232-0440 info@vctpp.org

The Natural Resources Conservation Service, a part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, operates 9,516 vehicles even though it only has 11,605 employees. That works out to one vehicle for every 1.2 employees.

The service promotes itself, in part, as a component of the federal government’s effort to deal with climate change.

“Our goal is not just a sustainable, nutritious, abundant food supply, but also thriving ecosystems that support a diversity of life,” the conservation service says on its website. “In the next century, NRCS will not only continue to tackle familiar challenges like ensuring clean water and healthy soil, but will also rise to meet new issues, such as clean air, clean energy, climate change, and new technology.”

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) describes the mission of the NRCS as ensuring “private lands are conserved, restored, and more resilient to environmental challenges, like climate change,” and the NRCS argues on its website that human activity is producing greenhouse gases (GHG) that lead to climate change and that farmers can help solve the problem by reducing emissions.

“However, human activity is contributing to increases in GHG concentrations in the atmosphere and the increases are causing potentially detrimental changes in temperature and other aspects of climate,” says the NRCS. “Although agricultural sources account for only 6 percent of the total GHG emissions in the USA, many sources can be reduced with minimal economic impact.”

Read more.