'Cow Tax' Uproar Underscores Greenhouse-Gas Divide

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Is the Environmental Protection Agency preparing to slap a "cow tax" on bovines for their contribution to global warming? The agency says no. But in recent weeks, farmers and livestock ranchers have flooded the EPA with letters warning of catastrophic consequences if such a tax was imposed. The idea of a so-called cow tax might seem far-fetched. But the uproar highlights a serious policy decision awaiting Mr. Obama's administration: whether to use the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions -- effectively branding as harmful pollutants carbon dioxide and other gases generated both by industry, as well as by the digestive processes of livestock. Many environmental groups want the Clean Air Act used to control greenhouses gases. The EPA document only briefly suggested that livestock could be subject to regulation. But the document went too far for the Bush administration, which -- in an unusual step -- published comments from four federal agencies slamming the EPA's work. The Agriculture Department said regulating emissions from agriculture could subject "numerous farming operations" -- including "dairy facilities with over 25 cows" -- to the "costly and time-consuming process" of getting permits to operate. The American Farm Bureau Federation alerted its members that the EPA was on course to saddle them with "costly and burdensome permits," costing as much as $175 per cow per year for dairy cattle, enough "to force many producers to go out of business." Local chambers of commerce, meanwhile, began disseminating estimates of what such fees would mean for farmers at the state level -- arriving at a figure of $24,995 a year for the average dairy farmer in North Dakota....