Marie Hornbein

Spring Mills

Representative Glenn Thompson claims that he is all about supporting Pennsylvania farmers. Who is he kidding?

According to the National Environmental Scorecard, Thompson’s overall score for 2023 was 3%, and lifetime score of 6%! He has worked to repeal actions on climate and environmental justice, to rollback clean water safeguards and to undermine progress on conservation and climate.

This has huge consequences for Pennsylvania’s economy. Pennsylvania has 52,000 farms and 7.3 million acres of farmland, producing $83.8 billion in direct economic output. Climate change will dramatically reduce agricultural income by altering growing seasons for crops, increasing heat stress for livestock and increasing flooding and stormwater runoff, according to the Pennsylvania Climate Action Plan of 2018.

Too much rain can reduce crop yields as much as 40%. Lack of winter freezing leads to problems with soil and livestock. Increasing temperatures affect cows’ milk production and calving times, require lambs to be sheared more often and increase hooved animals’ risk for parasites.

Adding to the damage, Thompson proudly supports “energy-related bills” that harm our land and water. He supported the repeal of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction fund within the EPA, preventing “unelected bureaucrats from forcing their climate agenda on the American people.” Why does Thompson want to squash efforts of citizens who are toiling to protect our land and water — and preserve our farms and agricultural economy?

How exactly is Representative Thompson supporting our farmers? How exactly is he supporting Pennsylvanians?