Two dozen environmental and consumer groups are asking the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate large dairy and hog farms under federal air pollution laws.
Groups like the Sierra Club and the Government Accountability Project say in their petition that “The EPA has the duty and authority to regulate these methane super-emitters under the Clean Air Act as part of the administration’s larger strategy to prevent catastrophic and irreversible climate change.”
A Successful Farming article says the petition points out that the EPA could use the same section of the Clean Air Act to set air pollution limits on the industrial hog and dairy farms that it used to propose carbon emission limits on power plants.
The petition calls for regulations on operations with at least 500 cows or 1,000 hogs in place without access to pasture.
The groups say in their petition that large farms account for 13 percent of all U.S. methane emissions. “Proven, pasture-based farming with reduced, sustainable herd sizes will help restore rural communities, help stabilize the climate, and provide environmental justice,” the petition states.
(From the National Association of Farm Broadcasters)