The Nonlinear Library EA - This is why we can't have nice laws by LewisBollard
Feb 28, 2024
09:35
Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: This is why we can't have nice laws, published by LewisBollard on February 28, 2024 on The Effective Altruism Forum.
Note: This post was crossposted from the Open Philanthropy Farm Animal Welfare Research Newsletter by the Forum team, with the author's permission. The author may not see or respond to comments on this post.
How factory farmers block progress - and what we can do about it
Most people agree that farmed animals deserve better legal protections:
84% of Europeans,
61
80% of Americans,
70% of Brazilians,
51
66% of Chinese, and
52% of Indians agree with some version of that statement. Yet almost all farmed animals globally still lack even the most basic protections.
America has about five times more
vegetarians than
farmers - and many more omnivores who care about farm animals. Yet the farmers wield much more political power. Fully
89% of Europeans think it's important that animals not be kept in individual cages. Yet the European Commission just implicitly sided with the
8% who don't by shelving a proposed cage ban.
When farm animal welfare is on the ballot, it usually wins. Most recently, citizens in California and Massachusetts voted for bans on cages and crates by
63% and
78% respectively. Yet both ballot measures were only necessary because the state legislatures refused to act.
The US Congress last legislated on farm animal welfare 46 years ago - only at slaughter and only for mammals. Yet I'm not aware of a single bill in the current Congress that would regulate on-farm welfare. Instead, Congress is considering
two
bills to strike down state farm animal welfare laws, plus a
handful
of
bills to hobble the alternative protein industry.
What's going on? Why do politicians worldwide consistently fail to reflect the will of their own voters for stronger farm animal welfare laws? And how can we change that?
Milking the system
Factory farmers have an easier assignment than us: they're mostly asking politicians to do nothing - a task many excel at. It's much harder to pass laws than to stop them, which may be why animal advocates have had more success in blocking industry legislation, like
ag-gag laws and
laws to censor plant-based meat labels.
Factory farmers are also playing on their home turf. Animal welfare bills are typically referred to legislatures' agriculture committees, where the most anti-reform politicians reside. A
quarter of the European Parliament's agriculture committee are farmers, and many of the rest represent rural areas.
But these factors are both common to all animal welfare legislation, not just laws to protect farmed animals. Yet most nations and US states have still passed anti-cruelty laws for other animals. And most of these laws go beyond protecting just cats and dogs. Organizing a fight between two chickens is punishable by up to five years in jail in the US - even as abusing two million farmed chickens is not punishable at all.
A few other factors are unique to farm animal-focused laws. They may raise food prices; EU officials recently gave that
excuse for shelving proposed reforms. Farm animal cruelty is not top of mind for most voters, so politicians don't expect to suffer repercussions for ignoring it. And factory farming can be dismissed as a far-left issue, which only Green politicians need worry about.
But this isn't the whole story.
Surveys show that most voters across the political spectrum support farm animal welfare laws. Politicians often work on issues that aren't top of mind for most voters; Congress recently
legislated to help the nation's one million duck hunters. And politicians happily pass laws that may raise food prices to achieve other social goals, like higher minimum wages, stricter food safety standards, and farm price support schemes.
Master lobbyists, with tractors
A more potent factor is the farm lobby. ...
Note: This post was crossposted from the Open Philanthropy Farm Animal Welfare Research Newsletter by the Forum team, with the author's permission. The author may not see or respond to comments on this post.
How factory farmers block progress - and what we can do about it
Most people agree that farmed animals deserve better legal protections:
84% of Europeans,
61
80% of Americans,
70% of Brazilians,
51
66% of Chinese, and
52% of Indians agree with some version of that statement. Yet almost all farmed animals globally still lack even the most basic protections.
America has about five times more
vegetarians than
farmers - and many more omnivores who care about farm animals. Yet the farmers wield much more political power. Fully
89% of Europeans think it's important that animals not be kept in individual cages. Yet the European Commission just implicitly sided with the
8% who don't by shelving a proposed cage ban.
When farm animal welfare is on the ballot, it usually wins. Most recently, citizens in California and Massachusetts voted for bans on cages and crates by
63% and
78% respectively. Yet both ballot measures were only necessary because the state legislatures refused to act.
The US Congress last legislated on farm animal welfare 46 years ago - only at slaughter and only for mammals. Yet I'm not aware of a single bill in the current Congress that would regulate on-farm welfare. Instead, Congress is considering
two
bills to strike down state farm animal welfare laws, plus a
handful
of
bills to hobble the alternative protein industry.
What's going on? Why do politicians worldwide consistently fail to reflect the will of their own voters for stronger farm animal welfare laws? And how can we change that?
Milking the system
Factory farmers have an easier assignment than us: they're mostly asking politicians to do nothing - a task many excel at. It's much harder to pass laws than to stop them, which may be why animal advocates have had more success in blocking industry legislation, like
ag-gag laws and
laws to censor plant-based meat labels.
Factory farmers are also playing on their home turf. Animal welfare bills are typically referred to legislatures' agriculture committees, where the most anti-reform politicians reside. A
quarter of the European Parliament's agriculture committee are farmers, and many of the rest represent rural areas.
But these factors are both common to all animal welfare legislation, not just laws to protect farmed animals. Yet most nations and US states have still passed anti-cruelty laws for other animals. And most of these laws go beyond protecting just cats and dogs. Organizing a fight between two chickens is punishable by up to five years in jail in the US - even as abusing two million farmed chickens is not punishable at all.
A few other factors are unique to farm animal-focused laws. They may raise food prices; EU officials recently gave that
excuse for shelving proposed reforms. Farm animal cruelty is not top of mind for most voters, so politicians don't expect to suffer repercussions for ignoring it. And factory farming can be dismissed as a far-left issue, which only Green politicians need worry about.
But this isn't the whole story.
Surveys show that most voters across the political spectrum support farm animal welfare laws. Politicians often work on issues that aren't top of mind for most voters; Congress recently
legislated to help the nation's one million duck hunters. And politicians happily pass laws that may raise food prices to achieve other social goals, like higher minimum wages, stricter food safety standards, and farm price support schemes.
Master lobbyists, with tractors
A more potent factor is the farm lobby. ...