EPA Causes Stink Over Cow Stink, Farmers Opposed to Tax on Farm Animals

The cap-and-trade system may not be limited to the traditional grimy industries like the coal processors and car makers.  New discussions have surfaced about the possibility of targeting greenhouse gas emissions caused by our four-legged, mooing friends.  Yes, environmentalists have recognized for some time that cows are the predominant emitters of methane, a greenhouse gas that wreaks more climate damage than carbon dioxide.

This ‘cow tax’, “would penalize them for owning belching and flatulent cattle and pigs” (link).  Many farmers are upset about the proposal, saying that fees structured per animal head would put them out of business.

“We’re not trying to be alarmist but our livelihoods are at stake,” said Perry Mobley, an Alabama beef farmer and a director of the state’s federation of farmers. “This is just a bad deal. You don’t stop a cow from ruminating by charging a permit for it.”

A spokesperson for the EPA says that the farmers were distorting a brief note about the farming industry in a consultation document being reviewed by the EPA.  The document’s purpose was to review all industries in terms of greenhouse gas regulation under the Clean Air Act.

And why shouldn’t farming be an industry included in the Clean Air Act and the future cap-and-trade system?  Farmers should quit their bellyaching about the proposed cow tax and take some responsibility for the damage they cause to the environment.  Big agribusinesses that feed their cattle and pigs corn-based diets definitely have no right to complain.  Because of the Farm Bill subsidies, the government foots a lot of farmers’ bills, making business costs artificially cheap and, to a degree, artificially profitable.  I would prefer to have fewer subsidies (like ones that focus on environmentally friendly crops and conservation efforts), but this penalization is a step in the right direction.

I do think that the EPA should be reasonable if such a cow tax were made.  For instance, some farmers have begun capturing methane from cow manure and turning it into electricity to run their farms, and sometimes they even sell surpluses back to the grid.  These farmers could get a break on the tax or maybe have it rescinded entirely.  The EPA could also focus its efforts on the worst polluters–the huge factory farms.  However, arbitrary definitions of “huge” and “factory farms” would undoubtedly be challenged, costing the EPA court costs that should be going to oversight and program implementation funds.  Then again, several items in the Farm Bill already segregate farms into size categories based on income; the EPA could dodge the definition problem by simply borrowing pre-existing legal language.

In any case, it seems like more and more people are recognizing the true cost of America’s meat habit.  Erik Marcus has it right when he prophesizes that ”the future for cheap red meat is looking increasingly rocky.”

December 14, 2008  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: Politics

One Response

  1. True Cost of Beef Flowchart | Food Bubbles - February 26, 2009

    [...] EPA had been considering a special tax on cows, but it still seems to be in the works.  Also, the flowchart does not show it, but some farmers [...]

Leave a Reply