Law New Zealand proposes tax on cow and sheep belches to reduce methane emissions - The Taxman Cometh

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Got burping livestock? In New Zealand, you might be taxed.​


By Sammy Westfall
June 9, 2022 at 8:44 p.m. EDT
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New Zealand has more sheep than people, by a factor of about five. Now those sheep and other livestock could be taxed for incessant belching — a major source of greenhouse gases for the Pacific island nation.

The government Wednesday announced a draft plan to charge farmers for their livestock emissions, in what would be the first effort of its kind. The plan is part of a larger emissions reduction initiative proposed by the Ministry of Environment, which includes plans for its energy, transportation, waste and job sectors beginning in 2025.

New Zealand, with about 10 million cattle and 26 million sheep, is a major agricultural exporter. Agriculture makes up half of New Zealand’s gross emissions, and putting a price on those emissions is one of the ways the country seeks to reach its 2050 net-zero target.

Revenue from the plan will be invested in research, development and advisory services for farmers, who will also receive incentives for reducing emissions through feed additives, Reuters reported.

Cows and sheep are ruminants, meaning they have special, complex digestive systems with multichambered stomachs to digest their food. But as their feed ferments within their bodies, they produce methane as a byproduct — that needs to be belched out.

The process has them releasing up to 500 liters of methane daily. The greenhouse gas is extremely effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere, more than 25 times more potent as carbon dioxide.

High-resolution satellites even detected methane emissions from a cattle lot in California — meaning cow burps were observed from space, according to the environmental data company GHGSat.
 
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I simply adore the fact that politicians would rather throw burping animals under the bus than dare criticize countries like China and India for the insane amounts of pollution they create. Can't even have the so-called "environmentalists" protest in Beijing, apparently it's up to the little people in countries creating far less pollution to take it up the ass some more to "save Earth" from the new doomsday deadline.
 
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They should put those taxes exclusively toward a government-funded study of animal feed or supplement which lessens the extensive gas generation in the animals. That way the taxes contributes to a solution not just for their own animals, but the whole world. It would also put New Zealand on the map. Maybe even Nobel prize. No reason to tax people for something animals do.
 
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We're atit! we're at the fucking "Burping/breathing too much" tax shit that used to only be a thing in fucking parodies but applied to animals instead of people directly! Knowing how this shit's gonein thepast, it WILL become real (in new zealand at least, lmao) This shits literally indefensible, it's corrupt and wealthy politician stereotypes made real with the fucking smokescreen of "environmentalism" put overit. Carbon dioxide is released whenever something breathes, and methane is released whenever something poops, burps, or farts. It's a natural part of life but UHOH! CARBON DIOXIDE AND METHANE ARE NO NO GREENHOUSE GASES BAD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT! TIME TO GIVE UP A SHITLOAD OF FUCKING MONEY TO HELP SAVE THE ENVRONMENT!
it's fucking incredible, I'm fucking dying.
 
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This is so scientifically illiterate that it has to be done with malevolent intent. Gases expelled by living organisms aren't spawned from the fucking aether. We consume organisms that have consumed gases, then expel them over time.so in truth there should be a tax rebate every time you consume a organism, effectively nullifying the tax.
 
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New Zealand proposes taxing cow burps, angering farmers
Associated Press (archive.ph)
By Nick Perry
2022-10-11 02:55:52GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand’s government on Tuesday proposed taxing the greenhouse gasses that farm animals make from burping and peeing as part of a plan to tackle climate change.

The government said the farm levy would be a world first, and that farmers should be able to recoup the cost by charging more for climate-friendly products.

But farmers quickly condemned the plan. Federated Farmers, the industry’s main lobby group, said the plan would “rip the guts out of small-town New Zealand” and see farms replaced with trees.

Federated Farmers President Andrew Hoggard said farmers had been trying to work with the government for more than two years on an emissions reduction plan that wouldn’t decrease food production.

“Our plan was to keep farmers farming,” Hoggard said. Instead, he said farmers would be selling their farms “so fast you won’t even hear the dogs barking on the back of the ute (pickup truck) as they drive off.”

Opposition lawmakers from the conservative ACT Party said the plan would actually increase worldwide emissions by moving farming to other countries that were less efficient at making food.

New Zealand’s farming industry is vital to its economy. Dairy products, including those used to make infant formula in China, are the nation’s largest export earner.

There are just 5 million people in New Zealand but some 10 million beef and dairy cattle and 26 million sheep.

The outsized industry has made New Zealand unusual in that about half of its greenhouse gas emissions come from farms. Farm animals produce gasses that warm the planet, particularly methane from cattle burps and nitrous oxide from their urine.

The debate in New Zealand is part of a broader global reckoning about farming’s impact on the environment and the steps some say are needed for mitigation.

In the Netherlands, farmers have dumped hay bales on roads and driven tractors along busy highways to protest government proposals to slash emissions of damaging pollutants.

In New Zealand, the government has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make the country carbon neutral by 2050. Part of that plan includes a pledge that it will reduce methane emissions from farm animals by 10% by 2030 and by up to 47% by 2050.

Under the government’s proposed plan, farmers would start to pay for emissions in 2025, with the pricing yet to be finalized.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said all the money collected from the proposed farm levy would be put back into the industry to fund new technology, research and incentive payments for farmers.

“New Zealand’s farmers are set to be the first in the world to reduce agricultural emissions, positioning our biggest export market for the competitive advantage that brings in a world increasingly discerning about the provenance of their food,” Ardern said.

Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said it was an exciting opportunity for New Zealand and its farmers.

“Farmers are already experiencing the impact of climate change with more regular drought and flooding,” O’Connor said. “Taking the lead on agricultural emissions is both good for the environment and our economy.”

The liberal Labour government’s proposal harks back to a similar but unsuccessful proposal made by a previous Labour government in 2003 to tax farm animals for their methane emissions.

Farmers back then also vehemently opposed the idea, and political opponents ridiculed it as a “fart tax” — although a “burp tax” would have been more technically accurate as most of the methane emissions come from belching. The government eventually abandoned the plan.

According to opinion polls, Ardern’s Labour Party has slipped in popularity and fallen behind the main opposition National Party since Ardern won a second term in 2020 in a landslide victory of historic proportions.

If Ardern’s government can’t find agreement on the proposal with farmers, who have considerable political sway in New Zealand, it’s likely to make it more difficult for Ardern to win reelection next year when the nation goes back to the polls.
 
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