Pete Buttigieg releases rural economy plan ahead of 9th Iowa trip

The plan also looks to deal with climate change. Rural communities, [Buttigieg] writes, are the “frontlines of climate change,” and can “become the engines of innovation for addressing climate change and economic growth” under a Buttigieg administration. He called for doubling the $2.5 billion in research and development funding from the US Department of Agriculture on providing solutions to climate change, with an additional $50 billion investment over the next 10 years in farming technology, food safety and natural resources. Buttigieg calls for increased incentives for conservation, paying farmers to maximize land conservation and biodiversity in rural areas while reducing bureaucratic barriers to accessing said programs.