$175 Tax on Every Cow ("Fart Tax")

by skeeter1 49 Replies latest social current

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  skeeter1

  The news stories are reporting that the EPA has proposed a tax on cows and other farm animals. The tax is $175/cow (amounts for other animals are lower). The reason is methane gas, a greenhouse gs.

  The price of beef and dairy is expected to rise dramatically. I looked at the "USDA Beef Carcass Price Equivalent Index Value Report" and saw that the price of a carcass of beef was $127.75 for choice meat and $121.10 for select. (I hope I'm reading this right...http://www.heartlandcoop.com/markets/story.php?source=14&id=429701 I think this is wholesale price) So, if that's the price, a $175 tax on each cow is a BIG increase! It could double our cost of meat.

  Dairy cows produce about 2500 to 3000 gallons of milk a year. The tax on each gallon of milk (using 2750 gallons) is a 6.3 federal cent tax on each gallon of milk!

  I thought there was supposed to be "no taxes on the middle class"? Americans drink alot of milk and eat beef, like it or not. The White House is dining on premium beef. But, where's the beef going to be for the rest of us?

  Fox News story on this had an interesting fact. Stoneybrook Farms (makers of organic yogurts and milk) changed the cows diet to alfalfa, flax seeds, and natural grasses. The result was a big decrease in farts. IF the EPA really wants to decrease greenhouse gasses, how about making the farmers feed better feed. At least we'll all have better tasting milk and beef...even if the costs of meat and dairy have to be increased.

  It's like the lunatics have taken over the asylum. Global warming has more to do with the sun's interaction with earth. A few hundred years ago (before the Industrial Age), the sun was very hot and grapes were grown in Northern Europe.

  Sure, the Right wants to control your bedroom....but the Left is just as bad as controlling the person. First, it's getting everyone into these "A" cars (smaller than a Fiat)..and now they are going to take away your beef.

  I think the next Tea Party, needs to have Beef, Cheese, and Milk included.

  Skeeter
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  1914BS

  What a bunch of idiots!!

  Do they put meters up cows asses to measure how much gas they make???. The EPA is nuts - cars and truck put more than a trillion times more Co2 and CH4 into the air than a cows ass ever will.

  The real reason for this is because income tax receipts are way down. They'll tax any asshole out there to get their money
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  daniel-p

  Good. Raising cattle has a lot of externalities that make it a very expensive food for society to subsidize.
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  daniel-p

  Oh, and let the lunacy commense... should be an interesting thread with righties and lefties jumping out of the wood work proclaiming the end of the free world.
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  BurnTheShips

  Raising cattle has a lot of externalities that make it a very expensive food for society to subsidize.

  There are vast swathes of land that are not arable yet are perfectly suitable grazing lands for cattle and other ruminants. It is not zero sum, if done properly.

  BTS
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  daniel-p

  There are vast swathes of land that are not arable yet are perfectly suitable grazing lands for cattle and other ruminants. It is not zero sum, if done properly.

  Agreed, but there are also many lands in the West which have ecological value but that are over-grazed by cattle. Even if the land isn't arable, cattle grazing can greatly contribute to degradation of the water supply. Also, a lot of energy is funneled into raising cattle, energy which is susbsidized by taxpayers (e.g. corn, transportation).
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  skeeter1

  Subsidize? How about corn? Makes corn syrup even cheaper! Causing obesity to worsen. Diabetes to threaten our public health and health care system. I lost my weight on the South Beach diet. Eating broiled fish, broiled skinned chicken, brioled cuts of beef. Beef is not bad for you, and is better for you than a fried fish sandwich with tartar sauce!

  This paves the way to tax Taco Bell! The .59 cent burrito will be no more.

  The obesity and sin food taxes are on the way. It's the first step towards a national sales tax. A national sales tax is going to supplement the income tax. The sales tax will cut US consumption and, like gasoline excise taxes, be a burden to the poor more than the rich.
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  BurnTheShips

  over-grazed by cattle

  Well, true, but I was not talking about over-grazing. If someone is damaging a shared resource others depend on such as the water supply, they should have to compensate the aggrieved parties that use the resource for their economic loss. That's fair.

  energy which is susbsidized by taxpayers (e.g. corn, transportation).

  Well, as you mention, the real problem is the subsidies, not the raising of cattle itself. If we would knock out the subsidies, the real cost of that T-Bone steak would become more apparent, and people would consume less beef. We may not need to install a pigovian tax scheme to price in the negative externalities, removing the incentives might do the job.

  BTS
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  daniel-p

  Subsidize? How about corn? Makes corn syrup even cheaper!

  My point exactly. Corn is subsidized by taxpayers. Corn is a primary component of the feed for of cattle. Thus, the raising of cattle is in part subsidized by us subsidizing corn. If you discourage methane production with a tax, the feed that increases methane production will also be discouraged (corn).

  The obesity and sin food taxes are on the way. It's the first step towards a national sales tax. A national sales tax is going to supplement the income tax. The sales tax will cut US consumption and, like gasoline excise taxes, be a burden to the poor more than the rich.

  Consumption taxes can be regressive (meaning that rich get richer and poor get poorer). In order to not be regressive, there would have to be some sort of rebate system. The regressive nature of consumption or sales taxes is why there's no sales tax on groceries (at least not in most states).
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  skeeter1

  What is going to replace beef? Something will HAVE to replace beef. Just what? We can't eat air. Anything that is food has a consequence to the environment. Fish farming, wild fishing, chickens,....and even soybean growing all affect the environment.

  Increasing corn prices really went over well in poor countries. Leaving millions to hunger more.

  Also, there is another news story about Sanford, Florida. They are using horse dung to generate power! Perhaps cow dung can also be used to make power?

  What if we replace beef with horse meat (like the French) since horses do not burp alot since they don't have multiple stomachs. Their dung can generate power. And, we can use them for short trips...horse & buggy. There, problem solved.