Ireland, like many nations, is worried about climate change. And so, to eliminate some of their carbon emissions, it has proposed that the country reduce its dairy herds by some 200,000 cows.
If you haven’t heard, cow farts and such are dangerous to the environment. If we can’t cut out using fossil fuels for transportation and the like, livestock is next on the chopping block.
According to Farmers Weekly, citing the Irish Independent, the Irish government has been looking “into a range of options to reduce emissions on farms.”
One of those proposes that the herds of Ireland dairy cows be cut by some 10 percent in future years, amounting to about 65,000 head per year for the next three years.
According to the proposal’s claims, this will go a long way in helping the nation reach its goal of having zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Of course, it does nothing to help either the nation’s economy, its food supply, or even global carbon footprints.
I mean, let’s just think about this logically for a minute. Let’s say the nation does decide to go with this plan. Suddenly, the country will be left with one of two options, force their citizens to stop consuming so much cheese and milk or start importing a lot more of it from elsewhere.
Now, since the first is pretty much out of the question, it essentially means they will be relying on the farting cows of some other nation, which will likely have to increase herd numbers and production to take on Ireland’s dairy needs.
So they haven’t canceled out anything. They just moved carbon emissions from their nation to another.
Oh, and, of course, the prices for all those now harder-to-get dairy products will undoubtedly increase.
Yep, I’d say this is about the dumbest plan I’ve ever heard. And yet, it is one that Ireland’s Minister of Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue, has had come across his desk.
