Should there be taxes on cows?

Many thanks to sustainable-tech:

Tax for a cow - that sounds like a genuine German invention, nevertheless this topic is at the moment widely discussed in many parts of the world. It is based on a study which gives evidence for the tremendous impact of agriculture and especially dairy farming and cows on the environment and the climate change. Agriculture is responsible for around 7 to 11 per cent of the total of greenhouse gas emissions. This mainly implies the production of methane, which is estimated to be 21 times more harmful for the environment than CO2. Another aspect in the center of this discussion is the emission of nitrous oxide which is produced during rice cultivation. Nitrous oxide is estimated 310 times more harmful to the climate than CO2.

Due to those facts the involvement of agriculture into emission trade is controversially discussed these days. Critics however utter objections, since the huge number of farmers and agriculturalists would result in an immense bureaucratic expense. Furthermore the tax would have to be implicitly charged on the consumer, which would harm farmers even more.

Diet for us? or for the cows? 

Do we have to adopt a vegan lifestyle in the end? The answer is no. Concepts for reducing the emissions produced by cows are already developed: Cows should be fed with straw and hay, mixed with soy, wheat and corn. By this diet emissions could be reduced around 20 percent. Furthermore there are assumptions, that this diet could also lead to four to five times more milk produced by the cow.

Why are we here?

So, why are we here?

Sure, in a general sense this question has the potential to drive me mad.
So I avoid thinking about it, let alone trying to answer it.

But in this context, I expect you might like to know why I think anybody might visit this site.

A lot of things confuse me. I wish I saw the world in "black and white" - but I never have!
I'm a bit colour-blind, and I see the world in about as many shades of grey as it's possible to imagine. And even when there seem to be "answers" to problems that concern me, it's all too clear that to accept those answers one usually has to ignore issues of validity relating to underlying assumptions.

So, like most people, I pass the stream of questions I might ask (myself or others) through the filter of what I think the likelihood of getting useful answers is.

Naturally, I do bother to ask things like "Is now the time to cross the road?"

I'm beginning to compile a list of bigger questions I'd like answers to, and to which answers might be available. So far that list includes the following:

Research has established beyond any doubt that the vast majority of law-makers (anywhere) soon become convinced that the laws they (and others) make are not intended to bind them or the rest of their (law-making) class.

• Why has this not become a focus of public attention?

Here in New Zealand, the farming lobby has influence out of all proportion with what can be justified by the contribution the people it represents make to society.

• Why do we put up with this?

More soon...