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DEL.ICIO.USWinds of change: The ‘flatulence tax’ and you
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
RedState.com today goes after the alleged “flatulence” tax, a so-far theoretical measure that would slap fees on cows, pigs and the greenhouse gases they produce.
The Business and Media Institute has a fresh piece on the topic as well.
There’s little chance that the measure will pass muster with the Environmental Protection Agency, but farmers across the U.S. have been in a panic.
In November, the New York Farm Bureau issued a warning that such a tax would be costly:
The tax for dairy cows could be $175 per cow, and $87.50 per head of beef cattle. The tax on hogs would upwards of $20 per hog.
Any operation with more than 25 dairy cows, 50 beef cattle or 200 hogs would have to obtain permits. This would cover about 99 percent of dairy production, more than 90 percent of beef production, and more than 95 percent of all hog production in New York, according to USDA statistics.
So far as we know, the pork-and-beans industry — a notorious source of methane, as Mel Brooks proved in “Blazing Saddles” — has fended off all attempts to include its product in the discussion.
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Comments
By Grumpy
January 6, 2009 10:39 AM | Link to this
If you want to raise taxes due to the flatulence factor, try measuring what goes on at the Georgia General Assembly every January through April. You’d raise enough revenue to solve the state’s budget problems.
By Aaron Burr V. Mexico
January 6, 2009 10:49 AM | Link to this
And don’t forget that Obama will raise your taxes, steal your guns, rape your sheep and spoil your women!
By BobG
January 6, 2009 12:08 PM | Link to this
If Obama will support the “Fair Tax,” I will support the “Fart Tax.”
By Aaron Burr V. Mexico
January 6, 2009 12:14 PM | Link to this
Golden Rule. He who has the gold makes the rules.
Fair Tax. He who has the gold, says what’s fair.
By I Believe in Obama
January 6, 2009 1:32 PM | Link to this
If people really want to make a difference with the global warming, then they sould do what I and others have been doing. I have been practicing VSB (Very Shallow Breathing) for four years now. I try to stay very still and breathe very shallow. That way I am not releasing as much Co2 into the atmosphere. Sure, running, waking at a brisk pace, and sex are not as much fun as they used to be, but darn it I am doing my part. There is no need to tax farts if the government would make it mandatory for all of us to VSB on alternating days according to birth days (odd and even). Think of all the jobs that will be created if the goverment hired people to make sure that the VSB law are enforced. It is time to think outside of the box people. The planet is dying, already!!!
By Idiot Hunter
January 6, 2009 1:51 PM | Link to this
Why am I not suprpised that the poster above is an Obama supporter. I guess the polls are true, most of the Obama supporters are undereducated or ignorant, or both.
By WRT
January 6, 2009 3:46 PM | Link to this
Why am I not surprised that Idiot is a McCain supporter. I guess it’s because most McCain supporters are bitter and can’t spell. And, by the way, Idiot, you might also be “surprpised” to learn that there is no such word as “undereducated”.
By James
January 7, 2009 12:46 PM | Link to this
Why am I not surprised there are idiots on both sides of the aisle and it’s proven every day? At least three times on this board.
This is just further proof that the federal government doesn’t need their fingers stuck in everything. Whoever wrote this story seems to think the reaction of farmers was unreasonable, but I’d say it’s just the opposite. Laughing something like this off is the last thing people should do because ignoring such things leads to them being passed… so to speak. If this were to go anywhere, it would only be a matter of time when the government put a fart tax on all of us.
By Cobb Woman
January 8, 2009 1:18 PM | Link to this
The taxing would appear to need some work. What if an individual cow produces 10 times the gas of the one next to it? Is that fair? Are we sure that equal amounts of methane gas are produced by each cow?
Maybe we could fix a tax on the amounts of hot CO2 produced per politician … and maybe we could also settle on a fine per fart for anyone who produces such noises in public?