Ok, I know I was on my soapbox earlier about the environmental tax proposal on cattle farmers for the amount of methane gas the cows produce -- but I've just about had my fill of activist tree-huggers trying to ruin this country. I'm all about taking care of this earth and our land -- I live on a farm, by golly, and I don't want it ruined and I want to keep living with the fields and grass and trees and cows -- I could do without coyotes and snakes, though. And maybe mice, but at least they're small and I can catch them in traps. And mosquitoes, they're a nuisance.
Anyway, I'm getting off track. Today my brother Walker, who lives in Spartanburg, SC, and works for a company that produces that clear wrap for meat products, sent me an email that the tax proposal has been whipped! Yea, for once common sense has prevailed. I'm sure it wasn't my comment that changed their minds -- probably it was the national Farm Bureau getting their goat (or cow)!
He said, "I subscribe to online news from Meatingplace.com. Excellent information on meat industry news. This is the article posted today. Took a little media attention to break their intentions, but guess it worked. Sounds like EPA is also trying to cover their tracks to the crime scene as well on this one."
Article: "EPA report doesn't mean livestock will be taxed to curb methane emissions," By Janie Gabbett on 12/10/2008
"The fact that a 570-page Environmental Protection Agency rule-making report on ways to implement the Clean Air Act included a discussion of ways to curb livestock methane emissions does not mean the agency will actually tax farmers for their livestock, according to two EPA spokesmen. The report has generated outrage in the agricultural community. The American Farm Bureau Federation estimated the report's exploration of farmers who own 25 dairy cows or 50 beef cattle being asked to buy permits for each ton of methane their animals released could cost farmers $175 per dairy cow and $87.50 per beef cow.
"On a conference call yesterday with local journalists, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) cried foul over the idea and said he has written to the EPA calling on the agency to scrap any consideration of imposing such fees.
"EPA spokesman Dale Kemery, however, denied that the agency is proposing a cow tax, calling the rules notice simply an "in-depth exploration of the opportunities and challenges that the application of the (Clean Air Act) authorities would present," according to the Rochester, N.Y. newspaper The Democrat and Chronicle. Similarly, the Albany, N.Y. Times Union newspaper quoted EPA spokeswoman Catherine Milbourn as saying the EPA has not proposed a tax and hasn't said it will target farmers as it decides how to enforce the Clean Air Act."
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