Several U.S. Senators have sponsored legislation to block an Environmental Protection Agency plan to regulate greenhouse gas emissions - including emissions from cattle - as air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.
The legislation would prevent the regulation from adversely affecting livestock producers by amending the Clean Air Act to preclude regulation of naturally occurring livestock emissions, including methane and carbon dioxide.
Nebraska Sen. Mike Johanns (R) is among the group. Others include Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Kit Bond (R-Mo.), Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Mike Johanns (R-Neb.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Pat Roberts (R-Kan.).
Johanns said such a regulation would have a “devastating impact on livestock producers because cattle emit methane, one of the gases the EPA proposes to regulate.” He referred the to possible regulations as a “cow tax.”
“This ‘cow tax’ could cost farmers and ranchers tens of thousands of dollars per farm per year. With the rising costs of production, this could put family farms at risk of going under. The legislation I am co-sponsoring applies some common sense to ensure the Clean Air Act isn’t stretched to far-reaching applications that it was never intended to cover,” he said.
Sen. Thune said such a move would be the “first step in a slippery slope” that could result in implementation of a tax on all CO2 emissions.
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