Peterson generally opposes abortion and gay rights; is against most gun-control measures; voted for the Iraq war resolution in 2002 and against a timetable for troop withdrawal in 2007; approved President Bush's 2001 tax-cut package; supported 2001 legislation to permit future drilling for oil and gas in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and was one of just 16 Democrats to vote for a Republican-sponsored Medicare bill in November 2003.

SourceWatch calls him "one of the most conservative Democrats in the U.S. Congress," and OntheIssues.org rates his political leanings as "moderate populist."

Agriculture

During his tenure as Agriculture Committee chairman during the Democratic-led 111th Congress, Peterson was a commanding and unwavering voice for farmers, ranchers and rural communities. Nowhere was this more apparent than during the spring 2009 debates over a climate-change bill that introduced by then-House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), and which Waxman's committee passed in May 2009.

The Waxman-Markey bill aimed to reduce industrial emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by 17 percent by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050, as well as encourage production of alternative fuels, by establishing a "cap-and-trade system" that sets limits on greenhouse-gas emissions and mandates that companies confine their emissions to the limits or buy credits from others that do. Farmers, who would also be subject to cap-and-trade, could obtain carbon-credit offsets if they engage in restoration and sustainability practices, such as methane containment, no-till farming, and planting trees. The Environmental Protection Agency would oversee the offset program.

Peterson is against the trading of carbon derivatives, due in large part to the higher energy and grain prices that producers would incur. He argued that a simple tax on carbon dioxide would be more fair to farmers. He also opposed putting the EPA in charge of the offset program.

"A lot of us on the committee don't want the EPA anywhere near our farms," he said.

Peterson demanded that Markey and Waxman give the Agriculture Committee full jurisdictional authority to approve all of the bill's provisions, or else Peterson would make sure that the bill lost the votes of all 26 Agriculture Committee members.

His threat was not an idle one. In May 2009, the Agriculture Committee's members unanimously stated that they would oppose any climate change bill that did not adequately address the concerns of the agriculture industry.

Also during the negotiations, Peterson inveighed against the EPA's methodology for counting the carbon emissions of biofuels; the EPA was counting "indirect costs," such as increased deforestation and tilling of farmland abroad as a result of increased use of U.S. farmland for ethanol production. He warned that he would oppose any climate-change bill unless the EPA methodology, which he said "would destroy the biofuel industry before it has had a chance to start," was revoked.

Acceding to Peterson's demands, Waxman specified that the Agriculture Department, not the EPA, would oversee the carbon offset program for farmers, and he raised the emission allowances for rural electric cooperatives. He also agreed to have the EPA consult with the Agriculture Department on a proper method for counting biofuels' carbon emissions. Following this agreement, Peterson said he would vote for the bill.

Also in May 2009, Peterson co-sponsored legislation to offer "blue card" permits for long-term employment to resident non-citizens who have completed 150 days or more of agricultural employment in the U.S. This follows his co-sponsorship in February 2009 of an amendment to lift annual restrictions on the admissions of certain categories of resident noncitizens who are employed in agricultural work.

In March 2009, Peterson personally met with President Obama to plead for disaster relief for western and northwestern areas of Minnesota, where flooding had damaged farms and communities. Obama assured him that the communities would receive all the resources necessary.

In September 2007, The Minnesota Farmers Union honored Peterson with its Farmers Union Golden Triangle Award-which recognizes lawmakers who demonstrate leadership on issues important to farmers, ranchers and rural communities.

"We are fortunate to have Chairman Peterson as our leader in the United States House of Representatives, working to improve the quality of life in rural America, and I look forward to working with him in the future," said Doug Peterson, Minnesota Farmers Union President.

The Economy

Peterson's Blue Dog Coalition stresses fiscal discipline, and he is no anomaly.

The House Agriculture Committee that he chairs passes a farm bill-which authorizes policies for commodity support, agricultural trade, marketing, food assistance and rural development-every five years. The most recent farm bill, which the House approved in May 2008, was noteworthy for containing no earmarks or unrelated spending projects. The Senate's version added earmarks, to Peterson's displeasure-he said the House would reduce the earmarks in the Senate bill, but would not be able to eliminate them altogether.

Peterson opposed the September 2008 Wall Street bailout "Peterson statement on stimulus package." and argued for placing equity into financial firms instead of buying troubled mortgages.

He said that Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission both created the subprime mortgage crisis by being "asleep at the switch," and that former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan played a part by making money too cheaply available.

Peterson even opposed the February 2009 economic stimulus act, whose massive spending increases he said would worsen the economic crisis by unduly increasing the national debt and boosting interest rates.

"Every dollar added to this bill will have to be borrowed from countries like China and Japan , because we don't have the money to pay for it ourselves," he said.

Peterson co-sponsored a June 2007 balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Trade

The Minnesota Democrat is disinclined toward free trade. He voted against implementing the Central America Free Trade Agreement in July 2005; against implementing a U.S.-Australia free trade agreement in July 2004; and against implementing a U.S.-Singapore free trade agreement in July 2003. In June 2000, he voted for withdrawing from the U.S. from the World Trade Organization.

But he is for expanding trade if it is under the conditions that are fair to the exporting nations' workers. In March 2009, he co-sponsored a repeal of the United States' 49-year-old trade embargo with Cuba and permission of limited trade with the communist nation, including sales of medical supplies and agricultural goods.

Energy

As a member of the Renewable Energy Caucus, Peterson has repeatedly supported both the expansion of U.S. fossil-fuel industries and U.S. renewable-energy industries. He co-sponsored a comprehensive energy bill in May 2009 to permit offshore drilling for oil and gas while also funding the development of electric and hybrid vehicles, carbon sequestration and energy efficiency.

In August 2001, he voted for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. But he also co-sponsored a February 2009 guarantee of federal loans to construction of pipelines of renewable fuels; voted in February 2008 for tax incentives for energy production, conservation and renewable energy; voted in August 2007 for investing in homegrown biofuel; voted in January 2007 for a national goal of renewable energy by 2025; and voted in August 2005 for a tax credit for gas stations that provide 85% ethanol.

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