Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) signaled that he is open to the possibility of a “meat tax” to help combat climate change, according to a video of a Q&A session at his town hall event in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Thursday.
A town hall attendee asked the presidential candidate what he would do to address the meat industry’s impact on climate change and floated a “meat tax,” which Sanders did not immediately dismiss:
“As you probably know, animal agriculture is to blame for the majority of climate change and is the leading cause of deforestation water and air pollution and biodiversity loss,” the woman said.
“With that being known, what do you plan on doing to ensure that Americans limit their consumption of animal products?” she asked.
She immediately followed up with a second question, mentioning Germany’s consideration of a “meat tax” designed to halt meat consumption.
“Germany has imposed a meat tax in hopes of limiting this consumption,” she said. “What are your plans to stop these large corporations from further usurping natural resources and polluting the planet?”
While Sanders did not delve into details, he praised the woman’s questions and failed to rule out the consideration of a “meat tax” in the U.S.
“Thank you for the question, and it’s a good question. All I can say is if we believe, as I do and you do, that climate change is real, we’re gonna have to tackle it in every area, including agriculture,” Sanders said.
“In fact, one of the things we want to do with our farmers out there is help them become more aggressive and able to help us combat climate change, rather than contribute to it,” he continued.
“You’re right. We got to look at agriculture. We’ve got to look at every cause of the crisis that we face,” he added.