June 2022: New Zealand considers a tax on livestock that emit greenhouse gases.
What does that mean? It means farmers may be taxed for the methane gas that sheep and cows burp into the air.
While the jokes may come easily, this measure feels uncomfortable to most of us. Systemic change is not easy.
Is it right that farmers be taxed for the natural bodily processes of their livestock?
Is it government overreach to tax livestock farmers more than vegetable farmers?
These are difficult questions. We don’t have the answers.
Here is what we do know:
- Livestock takes up nearly 80 percent of global agricultural land, yet produces less than 20 percent of the world’s supply of calories.
- Livestock is responsible for 5.9 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Please share with your friends and start a conversation.