We think dairy farmers and feedlot operators in Washington are right to be wary of a bill introduced in the legislature that would require the measurement of methane emissions.

Critics fear that it’s a prelude to taxation. Once the government starts measuring something, it inevitably follows that some other actions become necessary.

House Bill 1630 was referred Jan. 27 to the House Environment and Energy Committee. The bill calls methane from cattle a potent greenhouse gas contributing to the devastating impacts of climate change.

The bill doesn’t call for taxing methane from cattle, but would require annual reports to the Department of Ecology. Ecology already estimates livestock emissions. The bill would match emissions to specific operations.

HB 1630 declares that cattle release significant amounts of methane and that there is a notable gap in the state’s knowledge of the contribution of cattle to greenhouse gas emissions.

The bill’s prime sponsor, freshman Rep. Lisa Parshley, D-Olympia, said she wants the state to have the information to set policy. She said she wasn’t committed to any policy, including whether to tax cattle emissions.

“I think to begin with we have to make sure we have an accounting,” Parshley, a veterinarian, said.

Yeah, that’s where the trouble starts.

It’s unclear exactly how the methane would be measured. At best, it involves a lot of guesswork.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, a cow produces 154 to 264 pounds of methane a year. All ruminants aren’t created equal, and every individual animal produces varying amounts of methane based on its size, its diet, and a variety of other factors.

State ecology officials already estimate methane emissions. The state Department of Ecology, which didn’t request the measure, estimates methane from ruminant animals such as cattle, sheep and goats account for 3% of Washington state’s carbon output. Methane from manure contributes another 1.6%.

Republicans say, whether the intention or not, is a gateway to forcing dairy farmers and feedlot operators to participate in the state’s carbon credit program, or a direct tax. They point to Denmark, which has  imposed a carbon tax on agricultural emissions which will cost dairy farmers $96 per cow beginning in 2030 and $241 per head by 2035.

That’s real money, and it’s hard to imagine legislators facing huge budget shortfalls will let that kind of cash go uncollected for long once a mechanism is in place.

Beyond perhaps facilitating future taxation, the measure has other potential pitfalls. We would also be curious whether data from individual farms would enter the public record. It would only be a matter of time before farmers and producers would become the target of environmental advocacy groups.

Like many of these proposals, no one from the ag industry was consulted before the legislation was introduced. Nonetheless, agriculture has taken notice and is pretty sure what it portends.

Taxing methane, Washington State Dairy Federation policy director Jay Gordon said, “would be just one more reason for farms to leave the state.”

If anyone needed another one.