FART PROUDLY EWE

POSTED BY LAMBCUT our new Roarprawn contributor

An article in the Wall Street Journal Mutton Methane: Reducing Flatulence to Reduce Global Warming, has left Americans belching derision and scorn upon us. The article concerns NZ scientist’s efforts to reduce sheep and cow flatulence.

Some of the comments:

“Congratulations enviro-nazis! We have reached a new level of insanity! Limiting flatulence of cows??? Are you serious????. I am fearful of the next progression of absurdity”, “Kudos for the article! It reminded me of the scene in the film Blazing Saddles where the cowhands sat around a campfire eating beans …Where is Mel Brooks when you need him?”. “Stop animals from farting? Enough! When is the media and the American people going to put a stop this nonsense??”, “The sheer arrogance and stupidity of the idiots who espouse the ridiculous nonsense is beyond description”.

Lambcut is not surprised by the reaction. We have been caught up in the Labour Government’s bubble of self important silly gas regarding our little contribution to climate change; behaving like the distasteful distant friend at a funeral belabouring her egocentric guilt over the death of the departed.

Jon Morgan commented on the US reaction in Saturday’s Dompost: “Though agriculture produced 9 percent of the US’s greenhouse emissions, its farm animals were responsible for 19 percent of the world’s emissions. NZ’s livestock produced 0.2 per cent of the world total.” What this really illustrates is that livestock, anywhere, are not the big end of the problem. To have any significant effect on climate change, the large emitters need to get on and address the large issues.

The Clark government’s cringing Kyoto piety has resulted in research funding, critically needed elsewhere in agriculture, being scurrilously squandered on flatulence.

Wall Street Journal Article Link: http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/02/26/mutton-methane-reducing-flatulence-to-reduce-global-warming/