PASS THE STICKS, PLEASE

From Reuters via Campaign For Liberty:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. farmers and foresters could earn more money from carbon contracts than they pay in higher costs from legislation to control greenhouse gases, the Agriculture Department estimated on Wednesday.

So it looks like the primary business of farmers will be trading in carbon offsets, not producing food. Is it just me, or does anyone else see the potential for a problem here? I understand that farmers have for a long time needed to be involved in the commodities trading markets. I know that acreage set asides have been an important tool in preserving wildlife corridors and helping to slow erosion. I know that the dust bowl SUCKED! However, when government interference in the free market distorts the business of farming to such a large extent that it becomes more profitable for the farmer to grow trees than corn we are all in for a long, hungry winter. Of course, I suppose that this would help fulfill some of the ambitions of our new science czar, vis-a-vis population control.