Can you afford to fart in NZ!

[MichaeltheGreat]

Meanwhile, landfills all over the world are emiting methane, cattle and sheep everywhere but NZ are free to fart without consequence to their owners, etc.

Oh, and let's drain the Everglades and every other permanent wetlands in the world, while we're on our campaign to reduce methane emissions.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Agathon
It's a methane tax. It isn't as if they are going to march around with a detector next to everyone's bottom.

DD - actually, that's what we're going to do with all the leftists. Appoint them as personal methane detectors. Whose nose do you want?

[Cruddy]

Maybe there should be a tax on politicians for all the wind they produce... or is that hot air?

Might encourage a few to shut up.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Cruddy
Maybe there should be a tax on politicians for all the wind they produce... or is that hot air?

Might encourage a few to shut up.

Either way, it's a major contributor to global warming.

[C0ckney]

didn't one of the roman emperors try to impose a tax on urine? seems about as clever doesn't it

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat
DD - actually, that's what we're going to do with all the leftists. Appoint them as personal methane detectors. Whose nose do you want?

This is the type of comedic gold I expect in a thread about fart taxes.

[Agathon]

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat
Meanwhile, landfills all over the world are emiting methane, cattle and sheep everywhere but NZ are free to fart without consequence to their owners, etc.

So what, they don't have to meet New Zealand's emission targets under the Kyoto accord. Whatever other countries want to do to meet their targets is their business.

Besides, if we reduce emissions enough we can trade our credits to the filthy countries for money.

[Agathon]

Actually what's funny about the opinions on this thread is that not even the farmers are disputing that the methane emissions are a problem, they are only complaining about having to pay the tax. Instead they want everyone to pay for it because everyone will benefit.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison
The major problem I have is that the gases that livestock produce are very much integrated into the carbon cycle anyway...they eat grass and other vegetation, produce carbon dioxide and methane (the latter will break down to carbon dioxide anyway over time) which are absorbed by plants. Our problem is the introduction of carbon into the biosphere which has previously left the cycle...this is not. Perhaps these people could do to learn a bit of biology...

The problem is herds of those sizes could never exist naturally without human inteference. What's even worse is like parts of South America, where the Amazon rainforest is cut down to make way for ranches.

[Ben Kenobi]

So what, they don't have to meet New Zealand's emission targets under the Kyoto accord.

Obviously, the solution has to involve emission credits. People who fart less should be credited for their common sense and lack of undigested greens in their diet.

Cauliflower would become especially repugnant, even more so than now.

[Spiffor]

I personally consider the tax to be serious, since I consider the tax more to be a pollution tax than a farting tax. If cattle-farting makes 50% of NZ's greenhouse gas production, it is normal they try to take steps about it, even though it revolves around FARTS ! WEEE ! FUNFUNFUN !

The tax is probably not the best possible solution. Maybe they should look for geneteically engineered cattle who farts less, or maybe they should look for a way to gether methane and use it (or dispose it) properly... I don't know.

Besides, I don't think they'll ever measure the farts of an entire herd, or anything ludicrous like that : the volume of methane an animal farts is scientifically calculated and varies little if the cattle enjoys a similar diet. It is just like the volume of air breathed by the animal. They'll most likely take the middle value and apply it to the entire country, and will maybe measure the farts of individual animals in a herd, if the herd has a radical difference in its diet. There is no need to put a leftist with a detector behind each cow.

I personally have no particular problem with making the polluter pay for his pollution. In this case, the farmers pollute. Why not tax ?

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Spiffor
I personally consider the tax to be serious, since I consider the tax more to be a pollution tax than a farting tax.

Is that so you can keep a straight face when talking about it?