Milk: The Silent Killer?

Over the past years it has been becoming harder and harder to go into the business of agriculture because of three simple letters: EPA. The EPA is the worst enemy of anyone attempting to become an Agricultural entrepreneur. Their latest strike has been against the dairy industry. Recently the EPA classified milk (yes, the kind you drink) as oil (yes, the kind they spilled in the Gulf).

The negative impact that this has on the dairy farmer is not immediately apparent until you understand the kind of regulations and sanctions placed on those who store oil on the premises of their business. They must all have special spill proof storage tanks in place. The EPA stipulates that anyone who stores more than 1,320 gal. of milk at a time must have these containers.

Let’s talk numbers: It would cost approximately $2,500 for a certified engineer to secure the milk plus whatever the cost may be to actually build these containers (this cost will vary based on the amount of milk you store). With 2,299 dairy farms in the state of Michigan alone it would cost $5.1 billion to safeguard all the milk there. This is $5.1 billion that the state of Michigan cannot afford to spend.

The entire agricultural industry will be destroyed by regulations if we do not stop the madness and control the EPA and other radical environmental agencies.  We have to understand that the food on the shelves of the grocery stores does not get there by magic. It is supplied by the agricultural industry of America. That is one industry we cannot afford to destroy with regulations.

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Tom DeWeese
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Tom DeWeese is founder and president of the American Policy Center and is an internationally recognized expert on the issue of Sustainable Development and its attack on private property. He is author of three books, including Now Tell Me I Was Wrong, ERASE, and Sustainable: the WAR on Free Enterprise, Private Property, and Individuals.