Washington Policy Center calls Whatsupstream campaign “all hat, no cattle.”
4/13/2016Adding to the growing outcry against the illegally taxpayer funded assault on farmers, the Washington Policy Center in their April 12 blog noted that the deceptions of the campaign extend to the photo used on the website, billboards and other advertising.
Their report shows the source of the photo from the stockphoto company, Bigstock, with the title “Amish Cows.” This is consistent with other photos from that part of the country taken by the same photographer.
The cows were used to illustrate a primary accusation of the Whatsupstream attack and restated in numerous documents by the Western Environmental Law Center that farming is unregulated. To counter this ridiculous and outrageous accusation, we are preparing as complete a list of federal and state laws and regulations that apply to farmers as we can find. But, if you are wondering, here is a summary of ONLY the ones enforced by the EPA:
Warning, the list is long. Double warning: if you are young and thinking about farming, steel yourself before looking at this list.
The Washington Policy Center blog also points out that the suggestion that it is legal in Washington state to have cows in streams is completely false. Quoting Department of Ecology: “There are many laws and regulations that apply to nonpoint sources of pollution, including from livestock operations. Washington State’s Water Pollution Control Act (RCW 90.48) makes it illegal to cause or contribute pollution to streams.”
Note: there are many laws and regulations. Since much of the attack focuses on dairy farms, anyone interested should have a look at this site: http://www.wadairyplan.org/ It will make it very clear just how regulated dairy farms are to protect our water.
For those who may not be familiar with the term “all hat, no cattle,” it means whoever is responsible for saying these things about farmers has no credibility.