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In this episode, Mexie and Leslie from Mad Blender respond to a question from one of the listeners about whether taxing meat for the climate is a productive idea. We start by exploring the costs (financial, health-related, and environmental) of the animal agriculture industry and the reasons why meat taxes are being proposed by a variety of organizations, researchers, and governments. We then look at different approaches to the tax, including taxing the producers for the emissions they create or taxing the output (products) themselves, which is akin to taxing the consumers. We explore the counter-arguments and ultimately conclude that we need a radical overhaul of our political economic system as well as our agricultural system, and propose that a tax could be merely one part of this much broader effort.
Sources and Links
- Mad Blender on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcStOVD6xZ54ky6hcZZcqig
- Mad Blender on Twitter: https://twitter.com/madblender
- Fiona Harvey and Bibi van der Zee, Caroline Lucas urges parliament to ‘seriously consider’ tax on meat: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/04/caroline-lucas-green-mp-meat-tax-oxford-farmers-conference-prioritise-sustainability
- Stefan Wirsenius, Fredrik Hedenus, and Kristina Mohlin, Greenhouse gas taxes on animal food products: Rationale, tax scheme and climate mitigation effects: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225713228_Greenhouse_gas_taxes_on_animal_food_products_Rationale_tax_scheme_and_climate_mitigation_effects
- Prof Tim Lang, Prof Mike Rayner, and Caroline Lucas, A meat tax need not hit the poor: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/10/a-meat-tax-need-not-hit-the-poor
- Damian Carrington, Meat tax ‘inevitable’ to beat climate and health crises, says report: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/11/meat-tax-inevitable-to-beat-climate-and-health-crises-says-report
- Damian Carrington, Taxing meat would save many lives, research shows: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/06/taxing-red-meat-would-save-many-lives-research-shows
- Anna Dimoff, Taxing meat could help offset environmental, health problems, activists say: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/meat-sin-tax-1.4472222
- Marco Springmann, Meat tax: why taxing sausages and bacon could save hundreds of thousands of lives every year: https://theconversation.com/meat-tax-why-taxing-sausages-and-bacon-could-save-hundreds-of-thousands-of-lives-every-year-106399
- Katherine Martinko, Taxing red meat would save lives and slow global warming: https://www.treehugger.com/health/taxing-red-meat-would-save-lives-and-slow-global-warming.html
- Barrie McKenna, Taxpayers oblivious to the cost of farm subsidies: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/taxpayers-oblivious-to-the-cost-of-farm-subsidies/article13055078/
- PETA, Tax Meat: https://www.peta.org/features/tax-meat/
- Alyssa Julie, PETA wants ‘meat tax’ to steer Canadians toward plant-based diet: https://globalnews.ca/news/3946680/peta-meat-tax-plant-based-diet/
- Laura Glowacki, Don’t tax us for carbon, cattle farmers plead: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/beef-farmers-carbon-tax-1.4028853
- Juliette Aplin, Signal of change: Sweden considers meat tax to encourage sustainable diets: https://thefuturescentre.org/signals-of-change/4062/sweden-considers-meat-tax-encourage-sustainable-diets
- Climate Nexus, Animal Agriculture’s Impact on Climate Change: https://climatenexus.org/climate-issues/food/animal-agricultures-impact-on-climate-change/
- Martin Empson, Book Review: Farming, Food and Nature: Respecting Animals, People and the Environment: https://climateandcapitalism.com/2019/01/20/whats-the-alternative-to-factory-farms/
- Martin Empson, Book Review: A Diet of Austerity: Class, Food and Climate Change: https://climateandcapitalism.com/2016/06/13/a-diet-of-austerity-class-food-and-climate-change/
- Martin Empson, Book Review: Farmageddon: The True Cost of Cheap Meat: https://climateandcapitalism.com/2016/03/10/the-true-cost-of-cheap-meat/
- David Robinson Simon, Meatonomics: https://meatonomics.com/
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