the [Environmental Protection Agency] has settled a lawsuit from the National Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, and Waterkeeper Alliance by agreeing to tougher regulation of factory farms:

Animal waste, bacteria and parasites from chickens, pigs and cows drain into streams and rivers, posing a threat to human health.

Although not a carbon issue, this does set a good precedent for EPA involvement in regulating emissions from livestock operations. It’s common knowledge at this point that meat production is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases

The E.P.A. has agreed to propose a rule that will require concentrated animal feeding operations [aka CAFOs] to report detailed data to the agency every five years, including information on type and capacity of manure storage facilities, quantity of manure generated, available land acreage to apply manure and how excess manure is disposed of.

source: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/05/farming_as_an_environmental_is.html

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Topics: cafos, clean air, clean water, climate change, concentrated animal feeding operations, environment, Environmental Protection Agency, environmentalism, EPA, factory farm, greenhouse gases, lawsuit, livestock, manure, news, pollution, waste