Farmers convoys are gathering in New Zealand cities and towns to protest a planned methane emissions tax on livestock.
New Zealand farmers protest world’s first livestock ‘burp tax’ | Al Jazeera - Dean Purcell/New Zealand Herald via AP:
October 20, 2022 - "Travelling in convoys of tractors and pickup trucks, farmers in New Zealand have gathered in cities and towns across the country to protest against the government’s plan to be the first country in the world to tax emissions from farm animals. Lines of tractors and other farmyard vehicles disrupted traffic in Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch and other cities on Thursday, with the protesting farmers demanding that the country’s centre-left government back away from the so-called 'burp and fart' tax.
"Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern unveiled plans last week for the world’s first levy on agricultural gases and biogenic methane, which mainly comes from burps produced by New Zealand’s estimated six million cows and 26 million sheep. Ardern has argued that the tax is needed to slow global warming and could even benefit farmers if they can command a higher price for more climate-friendly meat. However, New Zealand’s farmers are up in arms, with thousands of agricultural workers joining Thursday’s protest....
"Bryce McKenzie, cofounder of Groundswell New Zealand, which organised the protest, said the tax threatened the viability of local farmers. 'The government’s ideological commitment to punitive and counterproductive emissions taxes on food production is an existential threat to rural communities,' McKenzie said. While the government hopes the tax will reduce livestock emissions by 20 percent, McKenzie argues that any 'reductions will be replaced by less efficient foreign farmers'.
"Methane is less abundant and does not linger as long in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, but it is a much more potent warming agent. Scientists believe methane is responsible for roughly 30 percent of the global rise in temperatures despite being a fraction of the greenhouse gas mix.
"Local farmer Mark Chandler told state broadcaster Radio New Zealand (RNZ) that the level of compliance related to the proposed livestock emissions levy was punitive. 'There’s a whole raft of things that are coming in that are just making life impossible,' he told RNZ. 'For a small-to-medium farmer you’re going to have to do weeks and weeks of administration and compliance, and it just doesn’t work'....
"A counterprotest was also held in Wellington on Thursday by locals who said the agricultural sector needed to do its part to address climate change."
Read more: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/20/new-zealand-farmers-protest-worlds-first-livestock-burp-tax
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