Posted by
Arnie on Friday, June 01, 2007 5:42:31 PM
Just as the proposal of a tax break for people who forgo the SUV for a hybrid car, it would only be fair if people who forgo animal meat for veggies get a similar tax break, so the PETA people claim. They do have a point.
Scientists who have studied these things for years, the global warming or climate change theories, whichever term floats your boat, have found that animals emit a greater amount of greenhouse gases than the entire transportation industry put together. That's from the UN report. But the problem appears to be a difficulty of determining what determines your level of vegetarianism. How would you prove yourself to the IRS that you are really a vegetarian and you don't sneak off to the Texas Road House for a big juicy steak, or stop by a Burger King with the kids. Or if your neighbor throws a 4th of July party and you grab a rib. No, you must be a total vegetarian and be able to prove it to qualify for the tax break. That's the only way to reduce the number of cows is through the free market system where individuals just quit buying and eating meat. Right?
No, there is another way. If these environmentalists were really interested in reducing greenhouse gases across the board, rather than just concentrating on the industrial emissions, then they would push for a total reduction. There is already a program in place that has been very successful for human participation. It's a very popular program for liberals as it is, they just have to change their thinking to include cows and other animals. It would work wonders to the cow populations, so then the amount of meat available would diminish and people would be forced into becoming vegetarians.
Simple.
Provide a tax break to farmers that abort their cows.
Do you think PETA would go for this?