The Confederation of Rural Associations of Buenos Aires and La Pampa (CARBAP) has questioned the initiative to impose a tax on methane gas emitted by cows, stating that it directly affects those who produce it and arises from misinformation.
In a radio interview, the head of CARBAP, Ignacio Covarski, confirmed that the intention to impose an environmental tax on methane in Buenos Aires (TAMBA), by legislator Lucia Cluj (Unión por la Patria) is “something incredible”.
In this regard, he acknowledged that “it is a project that has been in place for a few months but has taken off in recent days” and criticized that “the only thing that could happen to the legislature in Buenos Aires is to impose taxes on those who produce more and more.”
The agricultural leader said that he had a dialogue with the legislator promoting the initiative, and explained that “they understand that by imposing an environmental tax, they will raise awareness among producers to make an effort to make livestock more sustainable, and in this way a fund is created to mitigate pollution.” In this sense, he expressed that “what they believe is that by recording and generating more taxes, something will change simply as a matter of intention.”
Also, Kovarsky explained that the initiative is meaningless because “there is a lack of support because the world no longer even talks about emissions, as this project indicates,” noting that “today we are talking about the carbon balance.” He explained in this regard, “Within 9 to 12 years, bovine methane disintegrates into water vapor and carbon, which is the basic support for grass and plants to produce oxygen and green matter.”
In this way, he insisted that “there is a conceptual error regarding the difference in pollution and emissions” and revealed that “in Argentine livestock farming, the feedlot is the least that is done.”
In this context, Kovarsky indicated that they are “focusing on one of the lowest-emitting sectors,” and stated that “there is gross misinformation” by the project promoters in everything related to the subject.