WTF?! EPA Exempts Factory Farms From Emission Reports

A new piece in Mother Jones exposes the loophole that allows the meat industry to avoid accountability for its pollution:

In its latest appropriations bill passed in December, Congress renewed a provision that prevents the Environmental Protection Agency from requiring emission reports from livestock producers. The move came only days after US officials stressed to other governments the importance of accurate reporting at the Paris climate negotiations.

The meat industry is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than all forms of transportation combined. This exemption allows the U.S. government to ignore the grave consequences of raising animals for food.

With the U.S. government collecting data from 41 other sectors, it’s clear that this exception serves only one purpose: to protect the meat industry from rightful scrutiny.

According to a 2013 study, “The United States is underreporting its total greenhouse gas emissions to the United Nations by about 4 percent per year as a result of bad livestock data—nearly equivalent to the entire emissions of Spain, the author explains.

Greenhouse gas emissions are far from the only concern raised by factory farms. In addition to devastating the planet, they subject billions of animals to cruelties few of us can even imagine, including extreme confinement, mutilations without painkillers, and a ruthless slaughter.

See for yourself:


The best action consumers can take to protect the planet and animals on factory farms is to adopt a healthy and compassionate vegan diet.

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