Posted on 01/14/2009 10:05:09 AM PST by Coleus
It turns out "going green" may mean cutting back on those juicy steaks and burgers. The reason: Cattle and other livestock expel tons of methane gas, which wreaks havoc on the environment. The issue has become so heated, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed taxing cows as a way to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act -- a suggestion that rankles dairy and cattle farmers.
Pete Staats, whose family has owned Dutch Hollow Farms in Bridgewater for several generations, thinks taxing cows is just plain strange and could put farmers out of business. "I think it's pretty stupid," said Staats, who owns about 40 beef cattle on his Somerset County farm. "If you're going to tax the cows, then you're going to tax the deer, then you're going to tax the geese. It's just ridiculous."
According to the EPA, the gas that leaks from volcanoes and millions of cows and livestock is, pound for pound, about 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere. Under the EPA proposal, the permit costs potentially translate into $175 per dairy cow, $87.50 a head for beef cattle and $20 per hog, according to Liz Thompson, a research associate with the New Jersey Farm Bureau. A herd of 75 dairy cows would carry a price tag exceeding $13,000.
The proposal is still in the exploratory stage. Staats, a member of the Somerset County Board of Agriculture, sees the proposal as yet another blow to the small family-owned farm. He said the effects of methane from cows is minimal, "especially at the rate we're losing farmers in this country." He said of the methane, "trapping it in some way and using it would make far more sense than putting this so-called tax on it."
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
It turns out “going green” may mean cutting back on those juicy steaks and burgers....
Of course!....the left will end up taxing steaks and burgers like cigarettes and alcohol!
DING, DING, DING...we have a winner!!!
The islamofacists should just take the easy road and not fight us. The left is out to kill our society, anyway. Between abortion, restriction on energy use and now, starving ourselves, all they have to do is wait about 20 years before the west falls.
Actually, cows don’t fart.
Usual length to maturity: 24months
Each cow emits 200 to 400 quarts of methane gas per day, or 50 million metric tons per year.
Send em boxes of cow crap. Make them feel at home with their thought processes.
Is this a joke? Seriously.
Actually I do not see the problem.
Cow manure is “green” the last time I looked in the Lot.
And it sure makes plants grow well.
The Lefties are really really stupid.
As they say in Rio Lindo, muy estúpido!
What do you call it.
That is the idea, to drive animal agriculture out of business altogether, so we all eat tofu and alfalfa sprouts.
Abdominal gases, which, by the way, are mostly carbon dioxide, and some methane, are produced by biological functions in the stomachs and intestines of ALL mammals, and are due, primarily, to bacterial action in the gut. The same bacteria pass with the feces, and continue the generation of carbon dioxide and methane during the decomposition of the waste. Human beings are bound by the same biological limitations of ALL mammals, in fact, most animal life, right down to lowly termites and cockroaches, and either the cows produce the methane, or the human beings do. Therefore there should be a tax assessed upon all the human consumers of agricultural products, most especially the vegans who consume mostly plant products, and generate greater amounts of methane than those who consume meat.
Maybe we could all eat dirt, and leave loam as droppings. Works for earthworms.
Better call www.mrmethqane.com
Awww, come on farmers! Get with the program! Willie Nelson and John Cougar Melloncamp are big time farming activitists and they tell you to vote Democrat, and you do.
So if Willie and John say it’s ok, just go ahead and pay it. Maybe Willie will give you a discount on his ethynol he manufactures.
Maybe we could get some big coarks and stuff them in the cows. Hell, we don’t need milk or beef anyway.
They expel methane by belching.
“Cow manure is “green” the last time I looked in the Lot.”
That depends on how fresh it is. :) And unlike the fertilizer produced by liberals (Leftardus americanus), it serves a useful purpose.
Okay...I'm stepping to the edge of the cliff here....and will say..many folks could do just fine without those two items. I don't drink milk much...and could be just ducky with poultry and wild game.
That being said...the Feds and the Eco-Feds are nuts.
I live in big, big cattle country......and this will be very harmful...if pushed thru.
This is ridiculous. Prior to ranchers, buffalo roamed the plains in such multitudes that it was impossible to see the end of the herds. I assume they had flatulence on a fairly regular basis. Deer, antelope, moose, wolves, fox, otter, mountain goats, cougars, bear were all in abundance and also have the need to pass wind. How in the world can cattle, sheep, goat farmers who have herds and flocks in far smaller amounts be required to pay a tax on flatulence? I keep waiting for people to logically refute these inane attempts to flim/flam us, but all I hear are crickets (I’ll bet they fart, too).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.