The New American by James Murphy
In scenes eerily reminiscent of The Netherlands earlier this year, farmers in New Zealand hit the streets in pickup trucks, tractors, and other farm vehicles to protest against Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s proposal to place a tax on emissions from livestock in a bid to address the scourge of climate change.
Farm vehicles snarled streets in Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch, and other major population centers. Farmers in The Netherlands used similar tactics to protest that country’s draconian emissions targets.
The levy on animal emissions proposed by the Ardern government would be the first of its kind in the world.
“No other country in the world has yet developed a system for pricing and reducing agricultural emissions, so our farmers are set to benefit from being first movers,” Ardern said in announcing the plan. “The key to us is that what we do is workable, it’s pragmatic, it can be introduced in a timely way and will actually bring down our emissions.”…
