Green Gone Wild: Dutch Government Demands ‘Compulsory Purchase’ of 3,000 Farms to Comply With EU Environmental Rules

Seventy-one percent of the earth’s atmosphere is made up of nitrogen, but we’re told that too much of it can be very, very bad. So the Nitrogen Minister of the Netherlands (yes, that’s a real job), Christianne van der Wal, is spearheading a government effort to drastically reduce nitrogen emitted by too much greenery — especially on very productive farms — and especially close to “environmentally sensitive” areas.

Farmers in the Netherlands have been at war with the government over nitrogen emissions ever since the government announced that there would be a 50% reduction in nitrogen emissions by 2050. Dairy farmers are especially hard hit because waste from the 1.6 million dairy cows in the Netherlands is the largest contributor to nitrogen “pollution.”

“My livelihood and my network is being threatened,” said Ben Apeldoorn, whose farm has about 120 cows producing milk for making cheese. “You’re just no longer allowed to exist,” he told the New York Times.

“There is no better offer coming,” Nitrogen Minister van der Wal told MPs on Friday. She said compulsory purchases would be made with “pain in the heart,” if necessary.- READ MORE