Tell California To Stop Paying Polluters To Poison Animals And Communities

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Sponsor: The Animal Rescue Site

California’s climate program is fueling animal cruelty and community harm by bankrolling factory farm biogas while true clean energy and sustainable food systems are left behind — it’s time to call for real change.

Tell California To Stop Paying Polluters To Poison Animals And Communities

California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) was designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. Instead, it has become a dangerous loophole, funneling billions of dollars into factory farm biogas projects that pollute communities and keep animals in cruel confinement1.

These subsidies allow industrial dairies to profit from methane digesters that capture gas from manure pits. The state then rewards them with valuable credits — even though the process leaks methane, spreads ammonia, and leaves behind waste that worsens pollution2.

Communities and Animals Bear the Burden

The Central Valley, home to most of California’s factory-farmed dairy cows, already suffers some of the worst air and water quality in the nation. Families here face rising asthma rates, contaminated water, and devastating health costs3. Instead of cleaning up these harms, the LCFS locks in more manure, more methane, and more suffering.

At the same time, animals remain trapped in intensive confinement, their misery turned into profit. By incentivizing the capture of methane, the policy actively encourages the very conditions that cause the most harm1.

False Solutions, Real Consequences

Big Oil and Big Ag promote factory farm gas as “renewable” and “clean.” But this is greenwashing. Burning biogas produces air pollutants just like fossil fuels, while the subsidies that sustain it divert resources away from true clean energy solutions like electric vehicles and solar power4.

Meanwhile, crop-based biofuels incentivized by the LCFS drive deforestation abroad and increase food prices at home. Diverting soy, corn, and canola oils from food to fuel worsens hunger and destroys ecosystems that protect the climate5.

A Better Path Forward

California must end subsidies for factory farm biogas and invest in real solutions. Supporting plant-based, regenerative, and truly sustainable food systems will cut emissions, protect communities, and ensure animals are not forced into torturous confinement. Redirecting funds toward electrification and renewable energy will put the state back on track to meet its climate and justice goals.

The Governor of California and the California Air Resources Board must act now. Sign the petition to call for an end to LCFS incentives for factory farm gas and call for investments in a healthier, more compassionate future.

More on this issue:

  1. Mia DiFelice, Food & Water Watch (7 Feb 2024), "How California Subsidizes Factory Farm Pollution Nationwide."
  2. Zoe Woodcraft, Earthjustice (2024), "California Regulators Ignore Environmental Community and Scientists by Locking in Low Carbon Fuel Standard."
  3. Kiki Velez, NRDC (23 Aug 2023), "CARB Must Reform LCFS Program to Meet Climate Goals."
  4. Timothy Belev, California Policy Center (6 May 2025), "CARB and the Low Carbon Fuel Standard: Unaccountable, Ineffective, and Driving Up Costs Across California’s Economy."
  5. Ashley Arax, Veronica Saltzman, and John Steelman, Clean Air Task Force (30 Oct 2024), "What’s Good and What’s Missing from Biofuel Safeguards in California’s Updated Low Carbon Fuel Standard."

The Petition

To the Governor of California and the California Air Resources Board,

Factory farm biogas is not clean energy — it is a dangerous loophole that rewards polluting industries while animals, communities, and our climate pay the price. California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) was designed to reduce emissions from transportation, but instead it has been hijacked to funnel billions of dollars into mega-dairies and other industrial farms that confine animals in cruel, inhumane conditions.

These facilities trap cows and other livestock in overcrowded spaces where their waste is stored in giant cesspools. Digesters are then used to capture methane from that waste, earning factory farms lucrative LCFS credits. But this does nothing to reduce the suffering of animals, the toxic burden on nearby communities, or the ongoing release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In fact, methane leaks, ammonia pollution, and nitrous oxide from leftover waste worsen the problem.

The very design of this policy incentivizes more confinement and more manure — locking California into a cycle of cruelty and pollution. At the same time, communities living near these factory farms, often low-income families and communities of color, face rising asthma rates, contaminated water, and devastating health outcomes. True conservation cannot come at the cost of public health or animal welfare.

We urge you to immediately suspend LCFS incentives for factory farm biogas projects. These subsidies must be reassessed with transparency, weighing both their environmental impacts and their ethical consequences. Subsidizing factory farms entrenches one of the most harmful systems of food production rather than building the resilient, humane future Californians deserve.

Instead of propping up industries that harm animals and communities, California should invest in plant-based, regenerative, and truly sustainable food systems. Supporting farmers who use restorative practices will cut emissions, protect our water, and strengthen local economies while ensuring animals are not subjected to torturous confinement.

This is a moment to align California’s policies with its values. By ending incentives for factory farm biogas and directing resources toward sustainable alternatives, you can lead the nation in creating a food and energy system that respects both the planet and the beings who inhabit it.

Taking these actions today will help ensure a healthier climate, stronger communities, and a more compassionate future for all.

Sincerely,

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