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Govt. Wants to Tax Cow Farts

rdowns

rdowns

macrumors Penryn
Original poster
Jul 11, 2003
27,397
12,521
Proposed fee on smelly cows, hogs angers farmers


MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — For farmers, this stinks: Belching and gaseous cows and hogs could start costing them money if a federal proposal to charge fees for air-polluting animals becomes law.

Farmers so far are turning their noses up at the notion, which is one of several put forward by the Environmental Protection Agency after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that greenhouse gases emitted by belching and flatulence amounts to air pollution.

"This is one of the most ridiculous things the federal government has tried to do," said Alabama Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks, an outspoken opponent of the proposal.

It would require farms or ranches with more than 25 dairy cows, 50 beef cattle or 200 hogs to pay an annual fee of about $175 for each dairy cow, $87.50 per head of beef cattle and $20 for each hog.
Click to expand...


I'm all for green initiatives but this strikes me as a bit out there.
 
MacBoobsPro

MacBoobsPro

macrumors 603
Jan 10, 2006
5,114
6
They'll be taxing us to breathe oxygen next as it is depleting the earths reserves.
 
themoonisdown09

themoonisdown09

macrumors 601
Nov 19, 2007
4,319
18
Georgia, USA
If they're going to start taxing for cow farts, what about human farts? No more Mexican food for me.

Is there something so toxic in the cows that makes the air unbreathable?
 
Sun Baked

Sun Baked

macrumors G5
May 19, 2002
14,937
157
themoonisdown09 said:
If they're going to start taxing for cow farts, what about human farts? No more Mexican food for me.

Is there something so toxic in the cows that makes the air unbreathable?
Click to expand...

I think methane gas is a stronger greenhouse gas than CO2, but the only way to stop both on a living organism is the eat the cow.
 
CalBoy

CalBoy

macrumors 604
May 21, 2007
7,849
37
So is the tax per head?

If it is, I'm all for it. Cows pollute in so many ways aside from their flatulence, and their meat is not very environmentally friendly (which doesn't stop me from enjoying a steak every so often, but I would probably enjoy it less often if the prices were even higher).
 
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