FA-RM: Cow Fart Tax Coming Your Way

Monday, December 8, 2008

Cow Fart Tax Coming Your Way
By Monica @ 4:06 PM
If someone had told me five years ago that the EPA would start taxing farting cows to control greenhouse gas emissions, I would have laughed in their face.

It is now happening. The flatheads at the EPA are going to tax flatulence. But first, a bit of history.

This summer, Dr. John Lewis published a timely call to action:

In July the federal Environmental Protection Agency issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which details their plan to force Americans to reduce emissions of CO2 and other so-called “greenhouse gases.” This follows on an Executive Order signed by President Bush, which was made possible by a U.S. Supreme Court decisions ruling that CO2 is a “pollutant.” (!)

This plan will strip the American people of their freedom, and place them under the control of a single, all-powerful, federal agency. Industrial permits, furnace regulations, auto emissions testing, building permits, transportation, and food production—all will fall under the boot of the EPA. Environmentalists will use lawsuits to pressure the EPA to tighten an ever-shrinking noose around the neck of every American.

The EPA's document starts with a clear warning that using the Clean Air Act to regulate CO2 will lead to uncontrollable growth of the agency’s power:

"EPA’s analyses leading up to this ANPR have increasingly raised questions of such importance that the scope of the agency’s task has continued to expand. For instance, it has become clear that if EPA were to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles under the Clean Air Act, then regulation of smaller stationary sources that also emit GHGs [Greenhouse Gases] – such as apartment buildings, large homes, schools, and hospitals – could also be triggered. One point is clear: the potential regulation of greenhouse gases under any portion of the Clean Air Act could result in an unprecedented expansion of EPA authority that would have a profound effect on virtually every sector of the economy and touch every household in the land." (ANPR p. 5)

The ANPR also includes the following, in a comment by the Department of Agriculture:

"many of the emissions are the result of natural biological processes that are as old as agriculture itself. For instance, technology does not currently exist to prevent the methane produced by enteric fermentation associated with the digestive processes in cows and the cultivation of rice crops; the nitrous oxide produced from the tillage of soils used to grow crops; and the carbon dioxide produced by soil and animal agricultural respiratory processes. The only means of controlling such emissions would be through limiting production, which would result in decreased food supply and radical changes in human diets." (ANPR pp. 66-67)

To the many who believe that these excerpts from the EPA's document are exaggeration, recent events have proven otherwise. The EPA has not lost any time in calculating how much to tax agriculture under its new plan to cut CO2 emissions, according to NoNAIS:

In a massive power grab the EPA is attempting to tax all sources of greenhouse gasses. If your cow farts they want your money. Same goes for your pigs. Your house. Anything.... If the ~~USDA~~ EPA has their way it would impose an annual tax of $20 per pig and $87.50 per cow. Who knows how much they’ll tax your home or wood stove but you can bet once they get their slimy claws into your life they’ll never let go.

(link inserted by me) Moreover, as explained by the blog author, Jeffries:

In the Federal Registry the USDA comments discuss:

If GHG emissions from agricultural sources are regulated under the CAA, numerous farming operations that currently are not subject to the costly and time-consuming Title V permitting process would, for the first time, become covered entities. Even very small agricultural operations would meet a 100-tons-per-year emissions threshold. For example, dairy facilities with over 25 cows, beef cattle operations of over 50 cattle, swine operations with over 200 hogs, and farms with over 500 acres of corn may need to get a Title V permit. It is neither efficient nor practical to require permitting and reporting of GHG emissions from farms of this size. Excluding only the 200,000 largest commercial farms, our agricultural landscape is comprised of 1.9 million farms with an average value of production of $25,589 on 271 acres. These operations simply could not bear the regulatory compliance costs that would be involved.

Jeffries explains that presumably, the cost per animal is calculated through the Title V regulations. This has become more widely substantiated through other press releases and independent associations (you can simply google for other news reports if you desire).

It is crucial for everyone to understand that the proposed tax on livestock is just the beginning. The underlying premise here is a tax on greenhouse gas emissions. According to EPA documents, they will have the authority to regulate any emissions of so-called greenhouse gases. This means the rest of agriculture as well (tilling the soil releases CO2), your woodstove, your barbeque grill, etc.

The predictable result is that massive amounts of farmers would go out of business, consumer food prices would be driven through the stratosphere, and the EPA will continue to expand its powers as they draw new minimum thresholds of greenhouse gases. Jeffries further notes:

You will have to make your house meet EPA standards, pay fees to get it inspected and approved or have it condemned. Want to talk housing crisis? Very few homes in America will meet the standards. This means all those homes will get dumped on the market for pennies on the dollar. That will create a new round of foreclosures and depress real estate prices further. The EPA is throwing gas on the fire.

Having just read Harvest of Sorrow about the dekulakization of towns in Russia, I can’t help but notice the similarities between Soviet Russia and what our future situation might look like in the United States if we don't act and speak out.

The result would be mass unemployment and an even greater reliance on foreign countries for our food. If these rules were to be strictly enforced, the ultimate result would be famine, death, and waves of people being hauled off to prison camps for minor infractions of agricultural codes, such as keeping a few extra chickens. In the end, it would be the downfall of the United States. It is all there in the government documents above.
Unfortunately, both NAIS (see the post above) and the EPA taxes would dovetail to create disastrous government controls over our food, because the USDA would have the knowledge about all premises in the country where animals are raised and could simply pass this information to the EPA so they can collect their taxes. Many farmers are already being enrolled in the USDA’s “voluntary” NAIS program without their knowledge or consent. Both of these programs must be stopped before they are started.

What can you do?

First, you can speak up to the coming Obama administration about your views on such matters. Visit http://change.gov/agenda/energy_and_environment_agenda/ and http://change.gov/pages/rural_agenda/ and leave your comments about such matters as the USDA’s NAIS and EPA taxes on agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.
Second, you can look at my proposal on Obama's site and vote for it, here:
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/stop_the_proposed_epa_taxes_under_anpr
158 more votes to get it to first place in the category of Global Warming! Come on, activists, let's overwhelm them with votes!

Second, save the comments you submit to the Obama change.gov site and write your representatives and officials for office about your views. Write op-eds or letters to the editor.
It is also of vital importance to simply spread the news to others. Alert your friends and family to these proposals by pointing them to our website and blog so that they can remain updated.
Labels: EPA Tyranny, Global Warming, Government Idiocy, NAIS

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