presidential paradigms
Defending Our Values
Charles Wilfong, President, West Virginia Farm Bureau
In June the world
observed the 70th anniversary
of the massive D-Day
landing of Allied Forces on
the beaches of Normandy,
France. This began the
liberation of Western Europe
in World War II. This
commemoration should be
a constant reminder of the
ultimate sacrifice that so many have paid, not
only at the beaches of Normandy, but all around
the world for the sake of freedom and liberty. All
of us owe a huge debt of gratitude to our brave
and selfless soldiers, past and present, who have
defended our freedoms.
EPA and other federal agencies. All of this
comes at a time when agriculture is expected to
increase production to sustain a world population
estimated to rise from the current 7 billion to
9 billion by 2050. Production increases will be
very difficult to achieve with ever increasing
regulatory control.
Our current situation is a classic example of
elections having consequences. We must return to
the principles on which our country was founded,
and elect leaders who respect those values. We
owe that much and more to the soldiers who
have fought and the many who gave their lives to
defend those beliefs.
Perhaps that is why the actions
of some people serving in our
government are so frustrating. Our
freedoms are under direct attack
by agencies such as the EPA and
others. Numerous EPA proposals,
in the name of environmental
protection, would strip away many
of our rights and give the federal
government more control over our
farms and our lives. The outcome
of our current battle over the Clean
Water Act is just one example. We
are also dealing with EPA over
Clean Air Act issues that not only
threaten electric power generation
capabilities but greatly impact
agriculture. A climate change
report released by EPA earlier this
year listed cows as the biggest
contributor of methane to the
atmosphere as a greenhouse gas!
We can only imagine what the EPA
has in store for cattle producers to
reduce this “emission” from cows.
There are dozens of other
rules and regulations we can
look forward to as well from
4 West Virginia Farm Bureau News
FB14_80 YFR Ad_3.indd 2
5/13/14 10:04 AM