A series of farmer-led protests against a government climate rule in the Netherlands could be the start of a global movement, according to experts interviewed by Fox News Digital. The Dutch government issued a plan in June to reduce nitrogen emissions, largely targeting the country’s agricultural industry, which produces a large proportion of such emissions, according to a report by the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FSA). The government, however, directly acknowledged that “there is no future for all” farmers to continue operating under the proposal. DUTCH FARMERS FORM ‘FREEDOM SYNDROMES’ TO PROTEST GOVERNMENT’S STRICT ENVIRONMENTAL RULES In response, farmers across the country have reportedly taken to the streets in recent weeks, blocking roads to airports and deliveries to food distribution depots. A State Department spokesman said in a statement to Fox News Digital that the US is monitoring the situation and encourages both sides to reach an agreement soon. “I really understand their anger,” Marcel Crok, a Dutch science writer and co-founder of the Climate Intelligence Foundation, told Fox News Digital in an interview. “Farmers are also angry because they say, ‘we are the only sector to blame’. What about industry? What about traffic? Maybe we should just ban all cars in the Netherlands because they emit too [nitrogen].” “This plan in practice means that, in some areas, farmers have to reduce their nitrogen emissions by 70%,” he continued. “That means they just have to give up.” DUTCH POLICE SHOOT AT TRACTOR ON NIGHT OF FARMERS’ PROTESTS The proposal to sharply reduce nitrogen emissions is linked to a 2019 Dutch court ruling that forces the country’s government to take more aggressive measures to curb nitrogen emissions. The Netherlands, however, has heavily regulated agricultural emissions since the 1990s, and farmers have largely complied with those rules, Crok said. The Netherlands emits a large amount of nitrogen due to its huge agricultural industry, which accounts for around 87% of the country’s 124 million kilograms of annual ammonia emissions, the FSA report showed. The country exported $26.8 billion worth of food products despite having a relatively small population compared to other major producers, according to World Bank data. “It doesn’t make much sense to limit Dutch agriculture if you realize that they have the highest production per hectare in the world and therefore the environmental burden per kilogram of food is lower than elsewhere,” Simon Rozendaal, a Dutch journalist and chemist, told Fox. News Digital. “So in a sense Dutch agriculture is a boon for the climate as well as biodiversity.” Experts also argued that the farmers’ actions in the Netherlands mimicked previous protests around the world and could foreshadow similar uprisings against government excess. For example, the so-called “yellow vest” movement in France began as a protest against the increase in fuel taxes at the national level. BIDEN EPA PROPOSES REGULATION FARMERS WARN WILL SEND FOOD PRICES HIGHER “This is literally communism,” said Dutch political commentator Eva Vlaardingerbroek in an interview with Fox News Digital. “If the state says ‘we’re going to take away your private property for the sake of a greater good,’ then the state has the prerogative to create judgments to take away your rights. That’s what’s happening here.” Vlaardingerbroek said farmers’ reaction to government actions should “absolutely” be a warning to other governments pursuing similar agendas. “This will definitely affect ordinary citizens,” he continued. “It is part of a global agenda, so everyone around the world, especially Western countries, should know that this is not just about the Dutch government. This is part of the ‘2030’ agenda, this is part of the great reset.” Similar protests could soon happen in the United Kingdom and parts of the European Union where gas and energy costs are near historic levels, according to Benny Peiser, director of the London-based Global Warming Policy Foundation. In the UK, increased prices are expected to push 24% of households, or around 6.5 million households, into fuel poverty. “The point is that despite the growing energy crisis in Europe, some governments are still prioritizing a climate agenda that makes energy more and more expensive or that forces farmers to close their farms because that is still the top priority for some governments. ” Peiser said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “This whole green agenda is causing huge burdens.” “The Dutch have been driven mad by these policies because they are killing their businesses and farmers are fighting back in a big way,” he said. “This will happen across Europe. I have no doubt that when winter comes and millions of families can no longer heat their homes or pay their bills, that there will be turmoil across Europe.” Protesters, many carrying Sri Lankan flags, gather outside the president’s office in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Saturday. (AP Photo/Thilina Kaluthotage) (AP Photo/Thilina Kaluthotage) Additionally, over the weekend, thousands of citizens in Sri Lanka stormed the private residence of the country’s prime minister, forcing him and the country’s president to resign. The protesters were reportedly angry about the ongoing economic downturn and fuel shortages. Myron Ebell, director of the Competitive Business Institute’s Center for Energy and Environment, noted that the Sri Lankan government has also banned chemical fertilizers that environmentalists have blamed for water pollution. Gotambaya Rajapaksa, the country’s now outspoken president, noted that such products have “led to adverse effects on health and the environment” during a speech at a United Nations conference last year. CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP “Of course, all the crop yields have collapsed, they have no tea to sell because the tea harvest is so low,” Ebel told Fox News Digital. “So they have no income to buy things from abroad and their own food production for the people in Sri Lanka to eat is not there. They are starving.” “All this is the result of a government decision to limit access to commercial fertilizers,” he added. “There’s a connection with the Dutch movement because it’s about ‘you have to start using less.’ Thomas Catenacci is a politics writer at Fox News Digital
