$175 Tax on Every Cow ("Fart Tax") (page 2)

Elsewhere

That's a dumb idea.

A tax will not reduce the amount of fart coming out of the back-end of a cow and I guarantee you the tax money will be used for something other than environmental uses. (i.e., Lotto money supposedly going toward education: The lotto money was directed to education; however the equivalent amount of other tax money was removed from education. Net Gain: ZERO.)

Instead of taxing cows, the farmers should adjust the cow's die. I read a study that shows that the "emissions" can be reduced by 50% by making some minor changes to the cow's diet.

daniel-p

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.

I agree that pigovian shemes are a last resort, and that dis-incentivising is more desireable on one end than penalizing on the other. But something in me thinks that it won't be all that easy to remove the long-entrenched "farm" subsidies this nation has. (In my mind, there is no reason why food production shouldn't be treated as any other kind of business sector (or mass transportation for that matter), without taxpayers supporting corporate profits.)

Another angle of this is gov incentives for methane-capture from cattle waste... probably a much better route than a fart tax. These system are already in fairly wide-spread use, but it seems not among the major cattle-raising corporations.

daniel-p

On this topic, here's a link to some photos of one of the biggest cattle lots in the US (biggest in CA):

The size of this place is overwhelming, as is the stench. It's right up against Highway 5 in the Central Valley, and for about five minutes while passing it at 70 mph you want to hold your breath. Every time I pass it I'm reminded of how flat-out disgusting this kind of operation is. I'm no vegetarian, but I never feel like eating beef after smelling that place and watching all those cows living in their own waste. Mounds of shit are pushed up by bulldozers, while liquid wastes just seep into the ground. Unfortunately, I do not believe Harris Ranch uses mathane capture systems... someday they probably will, there is just too much money to throw away by not doing it.

Finally-Free

Give them a few more years and they'll attach gas meters to our assholes and send us monthly bills for our personal emissions.

W

BurnTheShips

But something in me thinks that it won't be all that easy to remove the long-entrenched "farm" subsidies this nation has.

No it won't be easy but damn, to tax all of us for consuming the products of this industry with one hand while subsidising it with the other? That sucks!

Another angle of this is gov incentives for methane-capture from cattle waste

There's big money to be made in shit and assholes.

BTS

BurnTheShips

But something in me thinks that it won't be all that easy to remove the long-entrenched "farm" subsidies this nation has.

No it won't be easy but damn, to tax all of us for consuming the products of this industry with one hand while subsidising it with the other? That sucks!

Another angle of this is gov incentives for methane-capture from cattle waste

There's big money to be made in shit and assholes.

BTS

BurnTheShips

But something in me thinks that it won't be all that easy to remove the long-entrenched "farm" subsidies this nation has.

No it won't be easy but damn, to tax all of us for consuming the products of this industry with one hand while subsidising it with the other? That sucks!

Another angle of this is gov incentives for methane-capture from cattle waste

There's big money to be made in shit and assholes.

BTS

BurnTheShips

Eesh. triple post.

Finally-Free

Eesh. triple post.

You should be taxed for that.

W

dinah

I say let's just eat the bitches. Problem solved.

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

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