A hot situation 🔥

The record-breaking heat in Europe isn’t the only incendiary situation right now. The European countries, the Netherlands in particular, have been dealing with the country’s farmers pitted against government plans to decrease greenhouse gas emissions by half by 2030.

• The reason for all this fire is that the major target is nitrous oxides – of which agriculture contributes about half. But farmers contend the efforts will force many producers out of business.

Protests have escalated with tractor blockades of major roads and city centers, and demands from the farmers for both more positive media coverage and more government aid.

• Another point of conflict is that a few shots have been fired at the protestors by the police, and farmers are justifiably resented and outraged. 

Farmers face two major obstacles to resolution: first, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), whose large subsidies to agriculture have made them economically dependent; second, the fact that, with environmental political parties and not enough air-conditioning, public opinion has not been very sympathetic toward farmers. 

While the Dutch protests have attracted the most attention, the issue reaches farmers across the bloc, and all facts considered, a difficult transition for producers seems inevitable.