Why Tax Meat?

Tax Meat for the Environment

Scientists and world leaders increasingly agree that global warming is the biggest challenge that humanity faces. Congress is currently debating a number of ways to reduce global warming emissions, such as requiring cars to use less fuel, imposing a higher tax on gasoline, and mandating that household appliances be more energy-efficient. But the truth is that the meat industry is the leading cause of global warming.

According to a 2006 United Nations report, raising animals for food emits 40 percent more global warming gases than all the cars, trucks, SUVs, Hummers, planes, and ships in the world combined.
A recent study by the University of Chicago found that going vegan is 50 percent more effective at fighting global warming than switching from a standard car to a hybrid.
Animal agriculture is a leading source of carbon dioxide emissions and the biggest source of methane and nitrous oxide emissions.

Virtually everyone agrees that drastic steps must be taken to halt global warming. Unless people dramatically reduce their consumption of animal products, we won't be able to make a meaningful dent in the climate crisis. A tax on meat would encourage people to start making that transition.

Tell Congress to Support a Tax on Meat for the Environment!

Tax Meat for the Health of Americans

The U.S. spends more on health care than any other nation and is one of the largest consumers of meat. After reviewing hundreds of studies, the American Dietetic Association determined that vegetarians have lower rates than meat-eaters of heart disease, certain types of cancer, diabetes, and obesity.

Animal products are the only dietary source of cholesterol and are by far the largest source of saturated fat.
A wide range of studies have linked consuming animal flesh to cancer, such as a major 2006 Harvard study that found that people who frequently eat grilled skinless chicken were 52 percent more likely to develop bladder cancer compared to people who don't.

It doesn't make sense for the millions of vegetarian Americans to have to pick up the tab (through higher taxes and health insurance premiums) when meat-eaters get sick; a tax on meat would bring more fairness to the tax system. Similar "sin" taxes already exist for alcohol and cigarettes.

Tell Congress to Support a Tax on Meat for the Health of Americans!

Tax Meat for Animals

In today's massive factory farms, chickens, turkeys, fish, pigs, and other animals are horribly abused.

Land animals are routinely mutilated without painkillers and are kept in filthy cages or sheds for their entire lives.
Fish are crowded into massive, filthy tanks where parasites run rampant.
In the United States' poorly regulated slaughterhouses, billions of animals routinely have their throats slit and are bled to death while they're still conscious, and millions are scalded to death in tanks of hot water.

While the suffering of billions of farmed animals may not mean a financial cost for humans, the moral cost is enormous. A tax on meat may persuade meat-eaters to spare some animals from this abuse.

Tell Congress to Support a Tax on Meat for Animals!

Read more about the proposed tax on meat.

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