Yesterday the California Air Resources Board (CARB) hosted a workshop to discuss the dairy sector, and in particular its rampant climate impacts and local air pollution. The workshop was partly in response to CARB’s denial of a request earlier this year to regulate dairies under California’s SB 1383, a law which requires CARB to adopt regulations to reduce methane in the state’s dairy and livestock industries. 

Instead of following the law, CARB advanced the position at the workshop that the dairy industry should remain free from regulation despite dairy manure management being a leading source of climate-warming methane in the state. In fact, CARB suggested, and the dairy industry repeatedly requested during the workshop, that California continue rewarding polluters through programs like the Low Carbon Fuel Standard which do nothing but entrench the dirty status quo at California’s mega dairies. This is just the latest example of CARB bending to Big Ag industry pressure and embracing false climate solutions. 

Tyler Lobdell, Staff Attorney for Food & Water Watch stated, “This workshop exposed the Newsom administration’s unwillingness to address the cow-shaped elephant in the room. Factory farm dairies are California’s largest source of climate-warming methane gas, yet CARB refuses to follow its mandate to protect the climate and actually regulate the dairy industry as every other major source of methane has been for years. Instead of regulation, CARB points to voluntary programs like the Low Carbon Fuel Standard that encourage the industry to produce climate pollutants and statistical gymnastics about herd sizes to deny the perverse consequences of their backward policies. Governor Newsom needs to rein in the rogue staff at CARB that are prioritizing industry profits over equitable and effective climate action.”