Green Fanaticism In the Netherlands

It isn’t just the U.S.: around the world “green” fanatics are destroying livelihoods and dragging down standards of living. This instance comes from the Netherlands: “Dutch farmers protest livestock cuts to curb nitrogen.”

In one of their largest-ever demonstrations, the farmers demanded the scrapping of recently announced plans by the Hague-based government, which could see a 30 percent reduction in livestock.

The Netherlands, the world’s second-largest agricultural exporter…

I was surprised to learn this, but it is true.

…is one of the top greenhouse gas emitters in Europe — especially of nitrogen — with much of this blamed on cattle-produced manure and fertiliser.

Nitrogen is not a greenhouse gas. I think they mean nitrogen oxide.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte said earlier this month the government’s plan to cut nitrogen emissions “will have an enormous impact on farmers”.

“This sector will change, but unfortunately there’s no choice, we have to bring down nitrogen emissions,” he said.

Of course there is a choice, but greenies don’t like to do cost/benefit calculations.

The Dutch government plans to cut greenhouse gas nitrogen by as much as 70 percent in 131 key areas — many of them close to nature reserves — to reach climate goals by 2030.

For farmers this means a 40-percent drop in emissions is expected, which would require around 30 percent less cattle, according to reports.

So for zero measurable benefit, people get less (i.e., more expensive) meat and fewer dairy products.

The protest has included driving tractors slowly down highways:

Some protesters went to the home of the cabinet minister responsible for the emission-reduction plan. That has been widely condemned:

The protest at Van der Wal’s home came on the eve of an announcement by the government that it planned to criminalize the practice, known as doxing, of publishing online personal details such as home addresses as a means of intimidation.

Something that we might consider here.

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