No no no no no. This article on dirty manure biogas doesn't give the reader an accurate sense of the DANGERS here, and contributes to the false narrative that this is safe. It's not. @nprDanCharles I hope this changes your mind. 1/ n.pr/37nd7U1
First, Blakely Hildebrand and Devon Hall are powerful advocates against this problem. I'm sure they spoke volumes about it, but very little made it into the article. I want to clear the (manure biogas discharge laden) air. /2
To start off, @foodandwater has done a lot of great education work around this issue. I'd suggest a primer by reading this foodandwaterwatch.org/insight/biogas… /3
With that, let's talk about why it's so dangerous. It's dangerous because it entrenches a corporate-owned industrial model of animal production on the taxpayer's dime. That model is literally killing us, and those digesters worsen the conditions that bring those harms about /4
The intensive confinement and liquid manure systems biogas digesters rely are the unsanitary systems that REQUIRE near constant antiobiotic use. 70% of all abx are used in this system, and are the 2nd biggest contributors of #AntibioticResistance in humans. /5
There are a ton of reports on this. Choose one. CDC, Pew, NIH. They all say the same thing. This system is creating #AntibioticResistance. Here's a short summary from the World Health Organization. who.int/news-room/deta… /6
Oh, and the CDC now says someone dies of abx resistant bacteria every 15 minutes. We are living in a "post-antibiotic era" -- this is literally a national crisis that we cannot solve without radically changing the industrial model of animal production. freep.com/story/opinion/… /7
Those liquid manure systems are also no good. Speaking of national crises, the industrial model of animal agriculture and the cheap feed grown to support it is the NUMBER ONE cause of water pollution, and is destroying our drinking water -- biogas will only worsen this. /8
Pick your state. California, Wisconsin, NC, Ohio, Washington, Missouri, Iowa and more are struggling to drink their water. Here's a national overview - we cannot continue using a system that perpetuates this problem. Manure biogas does exactly that. fao.org/land-water/new… /9
Oh, and it's not just drinking water. It's all water and the animals and people that rely on it. The pollution from industrial animal agribusiness and cheap feed that will be perpetuated by dirty biogas is causing the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. desmoinesregister.com/story/money/ag… /10
Abx & water pollution are two of our most pressing issues that biogas will worsen (on the taxpayer's dime!) but that's not all. This corporate-owned model of animal production, which is further entrenched by biogas, is gutting rural communities, extracting their resources. /11
There's been a lot of good work done here. Here's an overview by @pewtrusts on how the shift from diverse small farmer-owned farms to few massive corporate-owned operations is why many rural communities are dying - yet another national crisis we face. pcifapia.org/_images/212-8_… /12
Not to mention this article says nothing about the pipelines & infrastructure that will likely go through the "communities of least resistance," i.e., bipoc and poor communities. Here's an excellent overview of this. cwfnc.org/documents/Dang… /13
Not only will this disparately impact rural, poor, and bipoc communities, but they will pay for the privilege. Right now the digesters (and the infrastructure to support them), bandaids over a problem they didn't cause, but are heavily subsidized through taxpayer funds. /14
Oh? The kicker? Biogas production actually INCREASES emissions of toxic and fine particulate matter-forming ammonia. researchgate.net/publication/31… /15
And there's no need, because this model of animal production IS NOT INEVITABLE. Those subsidies should be used to help farmers take leadership roles in using farming as a solution to climate change -- actually taking carbon OUT of the atmosphere. aglaw.us/schroeder-ag-l… /16
By shifting AWAY from this model of animal production, and using subsidies not to further line massive corporate pockets but rather to put #farmers back in the driver's seat, we not only help stop climate change, but the rest of it as well. /17
#regenerativeagriculture increases water retention capability in the soil & doesn't require the land disposal of mass quantities of liquid manure. It also uses practices that reduce the need for (not so) "cheap feed" - in short, it is a solution to our water crisis. /18
It's an opportunity to revitalize rural communities by moving our farming away from corporate consolidation and into the hands of ppl who know best how to raise food for and invest in their communities rather than extract wealth for shareholder profit cfra.org/strategies_to_… /19
I said it before and I'll say it again - the way we currently raise animals for food is not inevitable. It's done this way because a small number of corporations hold a lot of power and need to extract wealth from our agricultural heartlands and sicken consumers for profit. /20
Articles like this normalize extractive industries. Whether intentional or not, they profit the Smithfields of the world, not the farmers. Let me be clear, manure biogas is not the solution to our corporate ag problem. Farmers are. #BustUpBigAg /end
