EPA and Agriculture
Many times government agencies are way more detrimental to a progressive, productive United States than actual legislative government. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back with an example.Sometimes a government agency recklessly throws out rules without regard to the economic hardship they could cause American industries. Such is the case when in April, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a proposed rule that greenhouse gases contribute to air pollution endangering public health and welfare. I mentioned the EPA was thinking about this some months ago. The concern livestock producers have is if the EPA's greenhouse gas definition includes methane emitted by livestock. If EPA regulates greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act, American Farm Bureau (AFB) president, Bob Stallman says his organization estimates it would cost farmers and ranchers $175 per dairy cow, $87.50 per beef cow, and about $22 for each hog. The amount, known as the "cow tax" would affect more than 90 percent of the livestock industry. The good news is there are U.S. Senators from both political parties that are ready to protect American industry from overwhelming regulations. Republicans John Thune and Mike Johanns immediately announced they would co-sponsor legislation protecting livestock producers from the EPA rule. Democrat Ben Nelson says he is absolutely opposed to any Obama administration effort to by pass Congress on global warming issues. We can only hope common sense prevails. I'm Jeff Keane.
