The Netherlands erupts in protests:

Government wants to expropriate 3,000 farms and close them to reduce emissions

In a desperate attempt to meet European Union climate targets, the Rutte government launched a law to expropriate the most polluting land from the countryside.

In an unprecedented political move in the Netherlands, Mark Rutte’s government launched an “emergency” plan to expropriate and close more than 3,000 farms in a dangerous attempt to meet strict greenhouse gas emissions targets recently imposed by the European Union.

The targets dictate that the Netherlands must halve nitrous oxide and ammonia emissions by 2030.

Otherwise, it will lose access to the supranational organization’s financial funds and could be suspended from the Union.

To comply with this, the Dutch government will use part of a dedicated €22 (US$22) billion program for the forced purchase of agricultural fields from more than 3,000 family businesses.

In a stern ultimatum to farmers, Nitrogen Control Minister Christianne van der Wal warned that “there is no better offer” and that if they do not accept the sale, they will be forcibly removed from their properties.

Many of these hectares are worked by family groups that have been operating them for countless generations.

The vast majority of these people live on the same farms where they work, so this measure will also imply the displacement of thousands of people.

“The last time this property was taken from us was by the Nazis in 1940. The only time in the last 300 years that my family did not work this land was during World War II,” said one woman interviewed by local media this week.

Continue reading here:

https://www.riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/modern-day-censorship/netherlands-erupts-in-protests-government-wants-to-expropriate-3000-farms-and-close-them-to-reduce-emissions/