The Green Party’s agriculture policy is based on a mistaken understanding about the environmental impact of livestock
farming FARM spokesman Robin Grieve said today
James Shaw attempted to justify his Party’s policy to price livestock emissions on his belief that livestock produce
half New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions. The science and the facts about ruminant methane emissions do not support
that.
FARM was set up to present the facts about ruminant methane and the Green Party policy demonstrates how much the facts
and the science of ruminant methane emissions are missing from the political debate about global warming.
Using the discredited and non scientific CO2 equivalent system to quantify ruminant emissions, as the Green Party has
done, is to misrepresent the environmental impact of livestock farming and any pricing scheme that is introduced for
these emissions will be a financial fraud .by the Government on New Zealand’s farmers. It is nothing more than dishonest
to quantify emissions of ruminant methane using a system that does not take in to account the fact that ruminant methane
emissions do not accumulate in the atmosphere in the way the system assumes they do. The system is not fit for purpose
and should not be used.
The Ministry for the Environment states clearly that emissions of ruminant methane do not need to decrease at all in
order to stop global warming and that means current ruminant methane emissions are not causing global warming, do not
need to be reduced and should not be priced under any circumstances.
FARM urges all political parties to listen to the science about livestock emissions of methane when developing their
policies and not stick doggedly to false beliefs based on the failed CO2 equivalent system just because it suits their
anti farming ideology.
New Zealand farmers have had enough of the lies and the unfair and unwarranted demonization by our politicians. Our
farmers lead the world in producing high value produce with low environmental impacts and humanity is served well by
their efforts.
Food is one of the most fundamental human requirements and New Zealand should be proud of the part it’s farmers play in
meeting that human need.