*Daphne Hulse is a senior at Purdue University in Indiana.*

There are few things more familiar to the Midwestern eye than the perfect, flat squares of green and brown farmland stretching out as far as the eye can see. I am a lifelong Hoosier, and this scene has been a constant. But this new decade has taught us that our world can change in an instant.

The hastening global movement to begin cutting carbon emissions is no exception. According to a recent study from the Rocky Mountain Institute, rural America will be a centerpiece in the transition to renewable energy: rural communities are expected to house almost all of the future photovoltaic solar panels and wind turbines built.

But is this ostensible change to the classic rural skyline as drastic as it sounds? Agro-photovoltaics, or the installation of solar panels several feet above crop fields, is a technique used to gather energy in the same space as agriculture. What little is lost in crop yield is gained in electricity revenue. Wind farms, which accommodate turbines concurrently with cattle ranches or crops, can act as an income buffer for when farm income is down. The coexistence of rural lands and utility-scale renewable energy already has precedent and financial success.

More powerful than these perceived benefits, though, is community willingness to accept a changed scenery. No place on Earth is untouched by humans. And as we continue to alter the atmosphere, the effects of climate change become all the more threatening, especially for farmers who rely on good weather and land.

Leaders in Congress have the opportunity to support carbon pricing policies in Congress, which incentivize this movement toward implementing renewables in rural America. Transitioning to solar and wind is how we can work to protect traditional farmland from climate change.