Will Schumer be the Dingell of the farm industry?
Eighteen percent of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide come from livestock. Direct emissions from methane released from cow belching, farting, and manure, as well as indirect, from the cutting of forests and growing of feed to support livestock, are a massive problem for the environment. Recently, there have been rumors that the EPA might be considering a proposal to impose a fee on some of these emissions.
Although the EPA denies that it is proposing such a regulation, the farm lobby and its supporters in Congress are already gearing up for a fight.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., called the EPA idea “absurd” and said it could result in $120 million in new taxes for New York farmers. Schumer added that a tax on livestock emissions “would be very, very bad for [New York] farmers. Now’s the time to nip this in the bud and wipe out any and all suggestions of a cow tax.”
Great. Just when we got rid of the biggest protector of the automakers‘ right to pollute, a new set of leaders emerge, ready to protect the right of cows to pollute. We know members of Congress have constituents to protect, but they should not forget their duty to the country, as well. If anything needs to be nipped in the bud it is this political philosophy prevalent in Congress of protecting a narrow local interest to the detriment of society at-large.
Of course any regulations of livestock need to account for the necessary role farms play in supporting our food supplies, but as is the case with another necessary resource– oil, that need does not justify a complete pass on the issue of greenhouse gas emissions.
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