Saving the world with a tax on cows, but at what price to the family rancher?

The article also stated, “But Rick Krause, senior director of congressional relations for the American Farm Bureau, warned it’s certainly feasible – especially based on the rhetoric of President-elect Barack Obama and the use of the EPA to combat global warming. Such action by an Obama administration would take an act of Congress for livestock to be exempt.
 
“The new president has been on record as saying that he really supports regulating greenhouse gases out of the Clean Air Act. So, we really have to keep an eye on it. Legislation would really be the only way to exempt it at this point – the cow tax.”

When it comes to lobbying power, the dairy and beef industries (not to mention the AQHA or American Horse Council) don’t hold a candle to the muscle behind the PACS (political action committees) supporting global-warming initiatives, animal rights and the encouragement for the removal of man’s interests from a good portion of the environment. Contrary to what Al Gore, his movie and the mainstream media claim, not all scientists agree that global warming is being caused by man, that it can be reversed or is even a phenomenon sure to doom the planet.  See the names of those scientists.

Besides, to think that a tax on American cattle would or could make a difference is absolutely ludicrous. But there are many who firmly believe otherwise. Just Google “greenhouse gas cow” and see what comes up. It’s an eye-opening experience. You might enjoy an opinion piece published in the Los Angeles Times, titled “A Warming World – Pollution on the Hoof,” which leads off with the question, “Livestock are a leading source of greenhouse gases. Why isn’t anyone raising a stink?”  Read the LA Times opinion piece.

Apparently, cows are really to blame for a big part of greenhouse gases and the resulting warming and eventual ruination of our planet. And to think it could have been an asteroid, nuclear holocaust, interplanetary collision or Armageddon. Wow, we really can save Earth by not breeding Bessie next spring.

Pretty soon, just going to a cutting will be a politically incorrect thing to do.

It’s tough to even put words around the concept of the tax on cattle, what this would do to our country’s family ranches, small dairy operations and an ill-informed, spoiled American population who depends on an ample, inexpensive supply of agricultural food products. Then again, perhaps another troubled asset relief program (TARP) bailout could blanket the whole mess, brought to you courtesy of the hard-working American taxpayers.

Problem solved.

While you’re out there, on your way to see that nice 3-year-old, or loping one more circle in the practice pen at the show, take a moment to ponder what’s going on in the big, big world outside our insular performance horse industry. Ideas may seem outrageous and beyond the realm of possibility right now. But somehow, they grow, they soften, they creep into the mainstream conscious. Meanwhile, we’re so wrapped up in our day-to-day concerns that we don't notice when issues slip quietly into place. Then, we have nothing left to do but complain about the results. (Have you taken a look at horse prices lately? Do you still think an overabundance of unwanted horses is someone else’s problem? And there’s more proposed legislation coming.)

Don’t ever think all people think like you do, or even that all Americans want or appreciate a thriving, diversified system for food production – especially when it comes to meat.

According to information posted at www.earthsave.org, “With methane emissions causing nearly half of the planet’s human-induced warming, methane reduction must be a priority. Methane is produced by a number of sources, including coal mining and landfills – but the number one source worldwide is animal agriculture. Animal agriculture produces more than 100 million tons of methane a year. And this source is on the rise: global meat consumption has increased fivefold in the past 50 years, and shows little sign of abating. About 85 percent of this methane is produced in the digestive processes of livestock, and while a single cow releases a relatively small amount of methane, the collective effect on the environment of the hundreds of millions of livestock animals worldwide is enormous. An additional 15 percent of animal agricultural methane emissions are released from the massive “lagoons” used to store untreated farm animal waste, and already a target of environmentalists’ for their role as the number one source of water pollution in the U.S.

“The conclusion is simple: arguably the best way to reduce global warming in our lifetimes is to reduce or eliminate our consumption of animal products. Simply by going vegetarian (or, strictly speaking, vegan), we can eliminate one of the major sources of emissions of methane, the greenhouse gas responsible for almost half of the global warming impacting the planet today.” See the full EarthSave report.