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In the Netherlands, farmers are taking to the streets to protest proposed new laws that would severely restrict their livelihood. If it feels reminiscent of the Canadian trucker envoy, it is because it is.
The law would require farmers to cut their nitrous oxide emissions, which are largely produced by animal farming. Farmers say that they are being unfairly targeted since the government could choose any other industry to start to lower emissions, including aviation, construction, transportation, and manufacturing. They also say that they have not been given clear rules and guidelines and fear that many of them will go out of business in short order and food shortages will be the result.
We all know that cutting emissions will require sacrifices from us all but are governments asking small businesses to take the hit while allowing big businesses to carry on as normal and reap the profits all the while? It sure seems like it. This law was born when the government was not allowed to negotiate new construction projects due to emissions standards. In order to make way for construction, it took to budget emissions away from farming.
