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A series of farmer-led demonstrations against the government’s climate rule in the Netherlands may be the start of a global movement, according to experts interviewed by Fox News Digital.
The Dutch government in June released a plan to reduce nitrogen emissions, largely targeting the country’s agricultural industry that produces a huge share of these emissions, according to a report by the US Department of Agriculture (FSA). However, the government directly admitted that “there is no future for all” farmers to continue their work Under the proposal.
Dutch farmers form ‘Freedom Transfers’ to protest government’s strict environmental rules
In response, farmers across the country have reportedly taken to the streets in recent weeks, blocking roads to airports and Delivery to food distribution warehouses. A State Department spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital that the United States is monitoring the situation and encouraging the two sides to reach an agreement soon.
“I really understand their outrage,” Marcel Kroc, a Dutch science writer and co-founder of the Climate Intelligence Foundation, said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “Farmers are also angry because they say, ‘We’re the only sector that gets all the blame.’ What about the industry, and what about the traffic, maybe we should ban all cars in the Netherlands because they emit too? [nitrogen]. “
“This plan in practice means that farmers in certain areas have to reduce nitrogen emissions by 70%,” he continued. “This means that they simply have to quit smoking.”
A Dutch policeman shot a tractor during a night of protests on the farm
The proposal to sharply reduce nitrogen emissions is linked to a 2019 Dutch court decision that will force the country’s government to take tougher measures to reduce nitrogen emissions. Crook said the Netherlands, though, has tightly regulated agricultural emissions since the 1990s and farmers have largely adhered to those rules.
The Netherlands exports a large amount of nitrogen The FSA report showed that because of the huge farming industry which accounts for about 87% of the country’s 124 million kilograms of annual ammonia emissions. The country exported $26.8 billion worth of food products despite having a relatively small population compared to other major producers, according to World Bank data.
Simon Roosendaal, a Dutch journalist and chemist, told Fox Digital News. “So Dutch agriculture in a sense is a benefit to the climate as well as to biodiversity.”
Experts also argued that farmers’ business In the Netherlands, it mimics previous protests around the world and could herald similar uprisings against government excesses. For example, the so-called “yellow vests” movement began in France to protest the increase in fuel taxes across the country.
“This is literally communism,” Dutch political commentator Eva Vlardingerbroek told Fox News Digital in an interview. “If the state says, ‘We will take your property for the greater good,’ then the state has the right to create crises to strip you of your rights. That’s what’s going on here.”
Vlardingerbrück said farmers’ reaction to government measures should be “absolutely” a warning to other governments pursuing similar agendas.
“This will certainly affect ordinary civilians,” she added. “It is part of a global agenda, so everyone around the world, especially Western countries, should realize that this is something that is not just about the Dutch government. This is part of the ‘Agenda 2030’, this is part of a ‘wonderful reset’. “
Similar protests could soon occur in the United Kingdom and parts of the European Union where natural gas and energy costs are approaching historic levels, according to Benny Pizer, director of the London-based Foundation for Global Warming Policy. In the UK, prices are expected to rise Send 24% of familiesor about 6.5 million households, are in fuel poverty.
“The issue is that despite this growing energy crisis in Europe, some governments are still prioritizing a climate agenda that makes energy more expensive, or that forces farmers to close their farms because that is a top priority, however, for a number of governments,” Besser told Fox News Digital in an interview. “This whole green agenda is causing huge burdens.”
“The Dutch are motivated by these policies because they are killing their businesses and the farmers are resisting very hard,” he said. “This is what will happen all over Europe. I have no doubt that, with winter coming and millions of families not being able to heat their homes or pay their bills anymore, there will be unrest across Europe.”
Demonstrators, many carrying Sri Lankan flags, gathered outside the president’s office in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Saturday. (AP Photo/Thilina Kaluthotage)
(AP Photo/Thilina Kaluthotage)
In addition, at the end of the week, thousands of citizens of Sri Lanka stormed the private residence of the country’s Prime Minister, forcing him and the country’s president to resign. Reportedly, protesters were angry at the ongoing economic downturn and fuel shortages.
Myron Ebel, director of the Center for Energy and Environment of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, noted that the Sri Lankan government has also banned chemical fertilizers that environmentalists have blamed for water pollution. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the country’s now ousted president, noted that such products “led to adverse health and environmental impacts” during a speech at a United Nations conference last year.
“Of course, all crop yields have collapsed, and they don’t have any tea to sell because the tea yield is so low,” Ebel told Fox News Digital. “So, they don’t have revenue to buy things from abroad and their food production for people to eat in Sri Lanka is not there. They are starving to death.”
“All of this is the result of a government decision to limit access to commercial fertilizers,” he added. “There is a connection to the Dutch movement because it is about having to start using less.”
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