What’s Going On Here?
A New Zealand climate change group has been tasked with working out how its country’s farmers should pay for their emissions.
The move comes as the government aims to cut the release of agricultural gases in a bid to make New Zealand a zero carbon economy by 2050.
What Does This Mean?
The likely solution will be a tax on the farmers producing greenhouse gases. That’s a big thing in New Zealand as agriculture makes up half of New Zealand’s total emissions.
Farmers who rear Ruminants (e.g. Cows, sheep & goats) are likely to be hit the hardest – as these animals have a four-chambered stomach that digests plants by fermentation. A by-product of this process is methane, a greenhouse gas with approximately 20 times the heat-trapping ability of carbon dioxide. Many believe that this gas is passed out the bottom – hence FART TAX – but is normally excreted via burps.???? BURRRRPP
Fun Pun-Fact: Back in 2013 the then-NZ government planted a similar proposal, but it didn’t go down too well with plenty of haytors – one angry MP was in such a mooooood that he parked a tractor outside parliament. That, combinedwith other protests, caused the bill to be cropped out. Beep Beep
Why Should We Care?
In 2012, the UK imported 86,100 tonnes of lamb, 73 percent of which came from New Zealand. The numbers change from year to year but the UK meat consumer will be impacted if this TAX does come in.
Less-Fun No-Pun Fact: During the same period in 2012 the UK exported 94,700 tonnes of lamb… Yep, that’s bonkers but another story for another day…
Be Curious!
When it comes to climate change, meat just ain’t finger licking good – The Colonel has been lying to us! But if we are going carnivore for a special occasion ???? then the chicken madras trumps the lamb balti! The general rule of thumb for commercial meat emissions:
LOWEST Chicken ???? < Pork ???? << Beef ???? < Lamb ???? HIGHEST
If you would like to know more about food and the emission have a read of this frankly wonderful article which does a great job of explaining things.
p.s. Veggie Dhansak trumps all.