CarbonShot: Federal Policy Options for Carbon Removal in the United States

The document estimates that agricultural soil carbon management in the United States could remove 100–200 MtCO2 per year by 2050 at a cost of approximately $40 per ton of CO2. It advocates for a hybrid federal policy approach combining financial subsidies, technical assistance, and expanded research and monitoring to overcome farmer risk-aversion and scientific uncertainty.

• Agricultural soil carbon management in the United States has the potential to remove between 100 and 200 MtCO2 annually by 2050, with an estimated cost of $40 per ton of CO2. This is described as a "no-regrets climate mitigation strategy" because it provides co-benefits such as reduced soil erosion, improved soil fertility, and reduced nutrient leaching.
• The document proposes a hybrid federal policy framework that balances financial assistance for farmers and ranchers with monitoring and research. A suggested on-farm research and innovation program covering 10 million acres would cost $500 million annually for 10 years to provide statistically robust data on practice efficacy.
• Effective policy implementation requires three key components: financial subsidies to cover upfront costs for risk-averse producers, technical assistance to increase producer knowledge and adoption rates, and expanded research and monitoring. The document specifically suggests investing in remote sensing and spectral technologies to lower the cost of national soil carbon measurement.
• Cover cropping with legumes can provide net economic benefits through increased yields, reduced fertilizer use, and drought resilience, though some benefits depend on special circumstances like forage sales or existing soil compaction. However, removing cover crop biomass from fields may reduce the resulting carbon and environmental benefits, a net impact that has not yet been quantified.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). CarbonShot: Federal Policy Options for Carbon Removal in the United States. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/carbonshot-agricultural-soil-carbon-management.pdf

Chicago

World Resources Institute. CarbonShot: Federal Policy Options for Carbon Removal in the United States. n.d. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/carbonshot-agricultural-soil-carbon-management.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=CarbonShot: Federal Policy Options for Carbon Removal in the United States |url=https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/carbonshot-agricultural-soil-carbon-management.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendcarbonshot, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{CarbonShot: Federal Policy Options for Carbon Removal in the United States}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/carbonshot-agricultural-soil-carbon-management.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }