The past couple of years, I’ve become familiar with the Pokemon trading card market. That’s because my children started playing the game, learned the value of different cards, and got involved in the buying and selling of them.
It’s quite something to think that a little piece of paper with the picture of a cartoon character on it can go for $75. Or, in exceptional cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Think what you want about it, but it’s at least a voluntary system that people freely created due to the supply and demand economics of their love for these cards.
The same can’t be said of the new cow burp trading system being pushed by the federal Liberal government.
Yes, you read that right. “Cow burp trading system.” It’s now a thing courtesy of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Canada’s agricultural sector is now being roped into a federal protocol regime to reduce enteric methane emissions from beef cattle. In layman’s terms, that means farmers either have to bring down the amount their cattle burp or purchase credits from other farmers to make up for it. It’s a cow burp trading market.
I swear I’m not making this up.
It was during the recent COP28 climate change conference in Dubai that Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault saw fit to make this new announcement.
“Methane is generated during the natural digestive process of cows and is released into the air when cows burp,” reads a press release from Guilbeault’s office. “This is known as an enteric methane emission.”
The government’s plan is to put a de facto price on the burps of cattle by giving farms a burp credit score.
“Each credit represents one tonne of emission reductions,” the press release explains. “Credits can be sold to facilities that will use them to meet emissions reduction obligations, or to other businesses to meet their low-carbon economy commitments. This means fewer methane emissions, and more financial opportunities for Canadian farmers.”
It’s hard to know where to begin. The whole thing is madness.
For starters, that last line is like a lousy punchline to an already bad joke. To say this represents financial opportunities for farmers is to say that paying for the cow burp tax will only make you richer. That’s the same magic beans talk we were told when the carbon tax, which is now collapsing, was first pitched.
This is the inevitable conclusion of having a government that seems to have an almost endless volume of edicts related to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions.
While the general public and urban activists focus on automobiles as a major emissions driver, the truth is that agriculture is one of the biggest emitters by sector. It seems that whatever joke you could have made about Trudeau looking to tax meat or ban cattle farts now hits too close to home, as the Liberals target the agriculture sector.
We shouldn’t be messing with the economics of agriculture. This is our food. It’s how we feed our families. It’s how we stay alive.
This scheme will have consequences for our agriculture sector that will harm regular Canadians. It is reckless to move ahead with it.
The truth is that emissions in Canada are going down considerably on a per capita basis. Federal government reports in recent years have acknowledged this, attributing the decrease in emissions to improvements in technology.
Guilbeault also acknowledges this, but somehow thinks government mandates are still required. “Canadian farms have become frontline champions for climate action by harnessing the power of sustainable agriculture,” Guilbeault says in a release. “The newest draft protocol under Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Offset Credit System not only addressed agricultural greenhouse gases, but will provide a financial benefit for Canadian farmers.”
If they’re already frontline champions, why can’t they be left alone? Why do they need to be roped into this elaborate production, that will at best cost them time and money to go along with and at worst destabilize our food production?
Trudeau and Guilbeault should try Pokemon cards. It’s fun and harmless.
