It seems that Bush doesn't think that animals have any correlation to CO2 levels of the country's output of CO2 emissions. With a President who has totally failed the country's school systems and a man who has no respect for science and facts, it seems instead he is again making up his own rules to truth in his eleventh hour of his administration.
As it is widely known that Bush is no friend to environmental protections, this should really come as no surprise. The nation's farms no longer must report to authorities of toxic, or smelly fumes released from manure. So, what does this have anything to do with the price of eggs in China? Good question...
The Bush administration issued a regulation Friday exempting farms from reporting releases of hazardous air pollution from animal waste to federal, state and local authorities.
According to the Energy Information Administration of the Department of Energy, agriculture is the largest producer of Nitrous Oxide emissions.
See the chart:
Although, the Nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural activities fell by 2.8 percent between 1990 and 2002. Agricultural activities were responsible for 70.3 percent of U.S. nitrous oxide emissions in 2002, roughly the same percentage that agricultural practices contribute to nitrous oxide emissions globally. Nearly all the remaining agricultural emissions can be traced to the management of the solid waste of domesticated animals. The burning of crop residues also produces nitrous oxide that is released into the atmosphere; however, the amount is relatively minor, at 2 thousand metric tons or 0.2 percent of total U.S. emissions of nitrous oxide from agricultural sources in 2002. But, combining many of these actions begins to create a larger picture.
There are mathematical equivalents of the release of nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide. The EIA estimates that a total of 583 thousand metric tons of nitrous oxide (or 172.5 million metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent) was released into the atmosphere as a result of direct and indirect emissions associated with fertilization practices in 2002. Despite that the estimated emissions decreased by 2.5 percent compared with 2001 levels and were 3.4 percent lower than in 1990, the levels of agricultural emissions in America remain dangerous, and now unregulated, and high. Nitrous oxide emissions from the application of nitrogen-based fertilizers and biological fixation in crops accounted for 57.3 percent of total nitrous oxide emissions from this source during 2002.
Let's look at the agricultural background on the benefits and managed uses of nitrogen. Nitrogen uptake and nitrous oxide emissions occur naturally as a result of nitrification and denitrification processes in soil and crops, generally through bacterial action. When nitrogen compounds are added to the soil, bacterial action is stimulated, and emissions generally increase, unless the application precisely matches plant uptake and soil capture. Nitrogen may be added to the soil by synthetic or organic fertilizers, nitrogen-fixing crops, and crop residues. Nitrogen-rich soils, called “histosols,” may also stimulate emissions. Adding excess nitrogen to the soil also enriches ground and surface waters, such as rivers and streams, which generate indirect emissions of nitrous oxide. Additional indirect emissions occur from “atmospheric deposition,” in which soils emit other nitrogen compounds that react to form nitrous oxide in the atmosphere.
Crop burning is widely used in agriculture. In 2002, estimated emissions of nitrous oxide from crop residue burning were 2 thousand metric tons (or 0.5 million metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent). There was a small decrease in these numbers from 2000 which is mainly attributable to decreased corn and soybean production. Emissions from this source remain very small, at 0.2 percent of all U.S. nitrous oxide emissions. When crop residues are burned, the incomplete combustion of agricultural waste results in the production of nitrous oxide, as well as methane.
Numerous studies show of the damages of what animal farm methane is creating to the global economy. With the depletion of Amazonian forests by McDonald's, KFC and other fast food industries to create more grazing ranges for their cattle and poultry farming, it is becoming a very delicate global problem. Estimated 2002 nitrous oxide emissions from animal waste management were 207 thousand metric tons (or 61.2 million metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent), down by 0.5 percent from 2001 levels and 1.3 percent lower than 1990 levels, making animal waste the second-largest U.S. agricultural source of nitrous oxide emissions, after nitrogen fertilization of soils.
Nitrous oxide emissions from animal waste are dominated by emissions from cattle waste, which account for 92.6 percent of emissions from the solid waste of domesticated animals.
Nitrous oxide is released as part of the microbial denitrification of animal manure. The total volume of nitrous oxide emissions is a function of animal size and manure production, the amount of nitrogen in the animal waste, and the method of managing the animal waste. Waste managed by a solid storage or pasture range method may emit 20 times more nitrous oxide per unit of nitrogen content than does waste managed in anaerobic lagoon and liquid systems. Generally, solid waste from feedlot beef cattle is managed with the solid storage or pasture range method, accounting for the majority of nitrous oxide emissions. Solid waste from swine is generally managed in anaerobic lagoons and other liquid systems. Anaerobic digestion yields methane emissions but only negligible amounts of nitrous oxide. So, changes in estimated emissions result primarily from changes in cattle populations. For example, beef cattle populations grew during the first half of the 1990s, leading to higher emissions. Now, as the middle class of the emerging nations of China and India are requesting more beef we are seeing even more of a global rise in these numbers.
Barry Breen, director of the agency's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response said, "When there is a train wreck, we need to know about it because we need to go out and look at chemical spills. When there is a lagoon full of manure, there is nothing our folks can do when they show up." And a spokesperson for the Environmental Protection Agency stated that the changes will allow responders to focus on spills and releases from factories, natural disasters and other emergencies that require urgent attention. They said it would also reduce reporting burdens on America's farmers, saying it is difficult to estimate the pollution coming from "a herd of cows."
I guess they don't get the same information that everyone else is privy to. There are direct and calculable results that can come from "a herd of cows" and are known worldwide that agriculture is one of the largest single producers of CO2 and nitrous oxide, which converts to CO2 by pound comparisons.
Again, Bush denies science and delivers their own truths to deceive the general public for their own failed policy decision making. These irresponsible decisions at the eleventh hour of the exiting administration show the lack of concern for any issues at hand. Also, The Interior Department issued revised rules on Thursday loosening protections for endangered species. And the EPA issued regulations Friday exempting industrial solvents and other chemicals that can be burned for fuel from the strict regulations governing hazardous waste.
A statement issues by the National Chicken Council, National Turkey Federation and U.S. Poultry & Egg Association said, "We have always felt that reporting requirements were never meant to address the release of naturally occurring substances".
As we have seen and are experiencing the damages that result in the deregulation and no oversight of Hedge Funds and Wall Street, which naturally produces greed, the statement from the Poultry Assoc. that simply because it is "naturally occurring substance" and should have no oversight or reporting requirements is short sighted and irresponsible.
I guess it is par for the course of this lame duck to side with the poultry industry.
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(c)Copyright 2008 Doug Boggs
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