Taxpayer-Funded Feedlots Refuse To Disclose Polluting Emissions

The huge and stinking factory farms producing the beef and pork most Americans eat are special. Unlike many other U.S. industries, they have convinced Congress to exempt them from requirements to report their greenhouse gas emissions.

When it comes to federal subsidies, though, they do not want to be exempt. They get money from EPA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to capture their methane emissions and turn them into energy.

Brian Turnbaugh explained this special deal in a piece published by OMB Watch May 4. OMB Watch is calling for feedlot operators to report their emissions publicly — if only to gauge the before-and-after effectiveness of methane-capturing manure digesters paid for by our taxes.

• "Factory Farms Take Federal Money, Refuse Disclosure of Pollution," The Fine Print blog, OMB Watch, May 4, 2010, by Brian Turnbaugh.