California Air Resources Board

As a California resident, I have been concerned about the impact of mega-dairies for as long as I have known about them. I appreciate the opportunity to submit comments on the Dairy Sector Workshop held on August 22nd.

Dairy operations are a major part of our state’s economy, but they also have substantial negative impact on our environment and health due to the high levels of methane and other pollutants they produce. Methane emissions and other pollutants from dairy livestock have severe consequences, and many Californians living near these operations share deep concerns about the lack of comprehensive regulation in this sector. While the number and size of dairies continue to grow, there appears to have been little or no consideration of their impact.

I am eparticularly concerned about the growing number of large dairies with methane digesters and the money that California is spending to subsidize these digesters which, in turn, incentivize larger and larger dairy operations. While digesters may help address the dairies' methane problem, they do nothing to address other pollutants released by dairy operations that negatively impact air and water quality, nor do they even begin to address the huge environmental justice burdens that nearby communities endure. While not a climate issue, I am also concerned by the horrific conditions that animals in these mega dairy operations endure and about the risk of pandemic that crowding so many stressed animals together creates (think H5N1).

Methane digesters alone cannot address the problems that mega-dairies create, but the subsidies they provide currently act as an incentive for more and more, larger and larger dairies. Their number should be capped at the current number and they should be subjected to much stricter regulation. This is not just about methane. Large-scale dairy operations also contribute to other forms of pollution that affect our air and water, harming regions throughout California. Nothing is being done about these other emissions. Regulating methane emissions from dairies would not only help reduce the climate impacts but also provide an opportunity for air and water agencies at the local level to address these linked concerns.

CARB plays a role to treat the dairy sector with the same standard as it does for the oil and gas and landfill industries when it comes to methane emissions. Our communities should not be left behind as the state strives to meet its climate goals. We need a stronger commitment to long-term solutions that protect both the environment and our health.

Thank you for considering my comments.