|
|
Misrepresentation of EPA’s So-Called ‘Cow & Pig Tax’ November 28, 2008 Billings, Mont. – Recent news releases by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) misinform the public that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act (Act), which AFBF claims would essentially result in new taxes on livestock operations and lead to assessments of $175 for each dairy cow, $87.50 for each head of beef cattle and $20 for each hog. “If this were true, then a charge of $87 per head per year would essentially prohibit the raising of livestock,” said R-CALF USA Vice President/Region II Director Randy Stevenson. “Fortunately, the EPA is not proposing this tax, which could result if greenhouse gases were regulated under the Act. The EPA made it very clear in its notice that it opposes such regulation under the Act. Rather than propose such an onerous regulation, the agency has asked for public comments in order to obtain alternatives for regulating greenhouse gases that would not have the dire consequences that could potentially result if regulated under the Act. “The livestock industry and livestock producers should oppose any attempt to tax livestock as a means of regulating greenhouse gases, but they should not be scared into action with false information,” Stevenson emphasized. “This so-called cow and pig tax has stirred up livestock producers everywhere, which is exactly what U.S. corporate agribusinesses and their respective trade associations want to happen, so that our attention is diverted away from the true issues immediately facing us,” said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard. “This sort of spin has – temporarily – shifted the focus away from important issues like country-of-origin labeling (COOL), the examination of U.S. antitrust laws, the fight to prevent the introduction of diseases like BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) and FMD (foot-and-mouth disease), as well as the anticompetitive effects from packer-owned livestock and other captive supply practices. “These are meaningful reforms that producers currently are advancing both in the U.S. court system and in Congress, and fear of this outrageous ‘tax’ is the tool these giant agribusinesses chose to use in their attempt to divert our energy and determination to move forward on these important reforms,” he continued. A review of EPA’s 168-page Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) published in the Federal Register on July 30, 2008, shows this tax is not being proposed by the EPA. The EPA Administrator states emphatically: “…I believe the ANPR demonstrates the Clean Air Act…is ill-suited for the task of regulating global greenhouse gasses…None of the views or alternatives raised in this notice (ANPR) represents Agency decisions or policy recommendations.” In the ANPR, the Executive Office of the President states the ANPR drafted by EPA staff “cannot be considered Administrative policy or representative of the views of the Administration.” Also, each Cabinet member concluded that the ANPR “sets out a hypothetical roadmap” for applying the Clean Air Act to address greenhouse emissions” and that “the Clean Air Act is a deeply flawed and unsuitable vehicle for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.” “The outlandish conclusions reached by AFBF and others regarding the taxation of livestock contained in the ANPR are not being proposed by the EPA, but rather, were expressed by EPA staff to present a hypothetical scenario of options that would have to be considered if EPA were to attempt to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under what EPA itself views as an outdated Clean Water Act that was not at all designed for this purpose,” Bullard pointed out. The ANPR quotes the President as concluding: “Decisions with such far-reaching impact should not be left to unelected regulators and judges. Such decisions should be debated openly (and) made by elected representatives of the people they affect.” “In other words, livestock producers need to keep things in perspective,” added Stevenson. “This EPA notice demonstrates that greenhouse gases should not be regulated under the Clean Water Act and, instead, Congress needs to consider amendments to the Clean Water Act to ensure it does not result in the far-reaching and disastrous consequences fathomed by EPA staff in their effort to fit a square peg in a round hole.” R-CALF USA will submit comments today in support of EPA’s own conclusion that the hypothetical roadmap laid out by EPA staff would be “relatively ineffective at reducing greenhouse gas concentrations given the potentially damaging effect on jobs and the U.S. economy.” Specifically, we will point out that the staff’s proposal would destroy our industry. “Though this issue made good headlines, our problem is not that AFBF attempted to inform producers of this so-called tax,” Bullard said. “Our problem is that AFBF misrepresented what EPA said in the notice and essentially engaged in a scare tactic. “It is a disservice to the cattle industry for AFBF to misrepresent EPA’s express statements contained in the agency’s ANPR, and the fact that government employees even discussed a hypothetical tax on livestock is a cause for concern,” he concluded. “However, livestock producers must remain vigilant to ensure they do not expend their limited resources fighting hypothetical battles. The real battles we face will take everything we have to win.” Note: A complete copy of the EPA ANPR is available under the “Property Rights’ link at www.r-calfusa.com. Comments are due Nov. 28, 2008, and will be posted on our Web site next week. # # # R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America) is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry. R-CALF USA represents thousands of U.S. cattle producers on trade and marketing issues. Members are located across 47 states and are primarily cow/calf operators, cattle backgrounders, and/or feedlot owners. R-CALF USA has dozens of affiliate organizations and various main-street businesses are associate members. R-CALF USA directors and committee chairs are extremely active unpaid volunteers. For more information, visit www.r-calfusa.com or, call 406-252-2516. |
|
Interested in advertising on this website? Contact Laurel for more information. 406-252-2516 This page was last updated on Thursday, December 17, 2009. |
