Version A0003: Hangzhou Two Sessions Special Report
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. Eat less meat, ease the Earth's burden and stay healthy
. Don't turn into a bacteria paradise
. Children's free ticket line should "grow taller"
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February 17, 2009 Collect Print Recommend Read Aloud Comment More functions
Eat less meat, ease the Earth's burden and stay healthy
Seemingly absurd at first glance, but upon closer reading, there are many similar voices both domestically and internationally.
For this, Committee Member Huang Yunbao quoted a statement by IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Chairman Pachauri: "If you eat less meat, you will be healthier, and so will the Earth."
Huang Yunbao's nearly 2000-word proposal became a hot topic yesterday, with everyone's first impression being "shocking." Upon checking online, it was found that the view of "controlling methane to alleviate global warming" has been around for some time. For instance, like New Zealand's "fart tax," Denmark's "climate tax," and the "breathing tax" mentioned by Academician Jiang Youxu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences last year, all have similar implications.
On November 18th last year, Academician Jiang Youxu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences urged: The government should impose an ecological tax on companies emitting carbon dioxide, while ordinary citizens could be required to purchase 20 yuan worth of ecological funds each month. He stated that as emitters of carbon dioxide on Earth, citizens should bear the cost of energy conservation and emissions reduction. This suggestion was humorously referred to by the media as the "breathing tax."
Coincidentally, the Danish Finance Committee recently proposed to levy a "climate tax" on farmers and farm owners. This would be a fee targeting the methane gas produced by cows and pigs when they release gas. The committee stated that just one cow releases approximately 4 tons of carbon dioxide annually, far exceeding that of a car. If cars have to pay taxes, then cows and pigs should have no reason not to.
In the southern hemisphere, the New Zealand government decided that livestock farmers in the future will have to pay taxes for the odorous gases emitted by their livestock, namely the "burp tax," "fart tax," and "pollution tax." The New Zealand government believes that the odorous gases emitted by cattle and sheep contain large amounts of methane, which damages the Earth's ozone layer and thereby accelerates global warming. This move is expected to raise about 8.4 million New Zealand dollars annually for the government, which will be specifically used for research on livestock gas emissions and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Thus, it appears that Committee Member Huang Yunbao's "shocking" proposal isn't baseless but rather in line with the "fart tax," "climate tax," and "breathing tax." He also cited a research report published by the German Institute for Ecological Economy Research, suggesting people abandon the consumption of meat and dairy products and adopt a completely vegetarian diet because doing so can "reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from food production to one-seventh of the original amount."
"There are also many diseases associated with meat consumption: heart disease, high blood pressure, gallstones, cancer, Parkinson's disease, obesity, etc., which have already made society pay a heavy price," he summarized: "From a scientific perspective, we should eat vegetarian. From a health perspective, we should eat vegetarian. From an economic perspective, we should eat vegetarian. From a compassionate perspective, we should eat vegetarian. In the spirit of the slogan 'Save the World,' we should even more so eat vegetarian."
Finally, Committee Member Huang Yunbao suggested: Include his proposal "Encourage Citizens to Reduce Meat Consumption as Part of Our City's Energy Conservation Measures" into Hangzhou's environmental protection plan for energy conservation and emission reduction, while also introducing relevant details. Readers, what are your thoughts? We welcome you to call our hotline 96068 and chat with us.