New Zealand will soon start taxing cow farts. And no, you didn’t misread that.
In this latest gust of hot air, New Zealand’s rabidly leftist government will soon institute an “agricultural emissions-pricing system” that will literally put a price tag on the burps, farts, and poop from farm animals like cows and sheep to aid in “the process of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.”
And here we thought California's gas tax was bad.
Agriculture makes up a massive portion of New Zealand’s economy – so much so, in fact, that climate alarmists say the gasses produced by livestock account for half of the entire country’s emissions.
That tax, the amount of which hasn’t been set yet but which is supposed to begin sometime in 2025, will be “recycled back into [the] agriculture sector through new technology, research and incentive payments to farmers.” Of course, many farmers themselves are understandably not thrilled about the prospect of being hit with fines for their flatulent cattle, and the Federated Farmers of New Zealand has already stated that the new tax would devastate farmers and small farming communities across the country.
But hey - at least a tax is more realistic than AOC's plan to just stop the cows from farting altogether?
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Prime Minister and resident big-government lover Jacinda Ardern called the new tax an “important step” in helping New Zealand meet its climate goals.
“No other country in the world has yet developed a system for pricing and reducing agricultural emissions, so our farmers are set to benefit from being first movers,” she said.
A word to the wise: when you realize you're the first country to tax cow farts? The problem isn’t everyone else.