A special EU wide tax on meat consumption would reduce the threat to the planet

Our overarching rebuttal to the proposition's case as it has been set out, can best be summarised by refuting their closing assertion: ‘For the opposition to win…’ ‘they will either need to prove that a) ‘Meat consumption is not a threat to the planet or b) The EU wide tax would not decrease meat consumption or c) It will have more negative effects that outweigh the positives that we have outlined in our case. ‘ Unfortunately they forgot to mention option d) Opps will need to prove that much more efficient means exist to achieve Prop’s aims. We choose option d. Thus, we approve of the aim of the proposition to save the planet (it’s where we keep all our stuff) but we strongly disapprove of the means. There are numerous more direct efficient actions the EU could take to better solve the problems Props identify, that don’t have any of the negative consequences their prescription entails. How do we know this? Well, to make their case, and not being experts in this field, Props have quite sensibly turned to those who are. In so doing they were very fortunate to discover a recent comprehensive report on precisely this topic published by, of all bodies, the UN itself – ‘Livestock’s Long Shadow’ [their ref] which they commended to us. We found it showed, in a balanced and persuasive manner the damaging impact of the meat industry on climate change, water supply and biodiversity just as the Props report. (Indeed, where Props depart from the UN case, in point three, their argument temporarily breaks down, as we have shown.) However, being satisfied to accept the UN’s presentation of the case against the meat industry in exactly the terms they set them out, they then choose to depart from this august body’s proposed solutions. Nowhere in this 300-page report is a consumption tax even mentioned. Instead, the very same report Props commend to us, (and on which they lean so heavily in presenting the environmental damage caused by meat farming), contains a carefully calibrated set of answers both technical and strategic, designed to mitigate these problems on a case by case basis. To give a sense of how thorough these technical solutions are, listed here are some of the measures meat farmers are exhorted to take to successfully reduce greenhouse gas emissions: 'sequestering carbon and mitigating CO2 emissions', 'reversing soil organic carbon losses from degraded pastures', 'reducing CH4 emissions from enteric fermentation through improved efficiency and diets', 'mitigating CH4 emissions through improved manure management and biogas', 'deploying technical options for mitigating N2O emissions and deploying NH3 volatilization.' [Their ref. p115-123] Each of the problems the report (and Proposition) identify is dealt with on a technical level in this way, based on the central conclusion that 'resource efficiency is the key to shrinking livestock's long shadow'. [Their ref. p 276] We are happy to accept the UN's analysis and to assume these technical solutions are well-judged. Finally, the report recommends a strategic framework to enable these technical solutions to be put into effect. It is based on two interlocking principles. 1. 'Prices of land, water and feed resources used for livestock production do not reflect true scarcities.' According to the UN, 'this leads to an overuse of these resources by the livestock sector and to major inefficiencies in the production process. Any future policy to protect the environment will, therefore have to introduce adequate market pricing for the main INPUTS'. (Our capitals) 2. 'Environmental externalities, both negative and positive, need to be explicitly factored into the policy framework, through the application of the “provider gets – POLLUTER PAYS” principle'. (Our capitals) [Their ref. p276-277] We will elaborate on the superiority of the UN's approach over the one advocated by the Proposition in our subsequent more detailed critique. However for now we leave you with the following question: is it possible that in place of the remedy proposed by dedicated UN scientists, the Props have been able in the time it took them to read the report, to discover a single magic bullet that optimally hits all these targets at once, but which nevertheless eluded the experts? Or is their prescription, as we will show, a blunt instrument that will do more damage than it will good? This is the battleground on which this debate will be fought, in our view.