The other day when I was driving up to Fergus Falls, I was listening to the local radio -- a random station I happened to land on after pressing "seek" for while. It was a radio station devoted to agriculture! I never knew such a thing existed!I learned a lot during the 15 minutes or so that I stayed tuned in. First, I learned that "boars and gilts" meant "pigs." Second, I learned that a new law is classifying milk as oil. The idea is to get farmers to implement "spill prevention plans" to keep animal fat (an oil) from leaking out into environment, causing sickness or the disruption of ecosystems.
At first I thought I was listening to some comedic spoof of agriculture and politics... like a radio-show version of an Onion article. But then I realized the story was serious. Farmers started talking about how outraged their were -- how much money it will cost to put the "spill-proof" systems, which may require new storage tanks, into place.
Is this how the EPA is trying to get farmers to become more "eco-friendly"? I am not aware of all the issues around the dangers of milk spills, but it seems that these sorts of laws -- that classify milk as a potential environmental hazard on par with fossil fuels -- send the wrong message. They make the EPA seem like an enemy, rather than a "protection agency."
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