How the EU Pays Farmers to Pollute

The New York Times has exposed how the European Union's farm subsidies are being used to create pollution. In Killer Slime, Dead Birds, an Expunged Map: The Dirty Secrets of European Farm Subsidies the Times reports on a map which the EU has tried to cover up. The EU's censored map shows how pollution in northern Italy relates very closely to the amount of European Union subsidies paid to farmers in the region.

The Times has used the European Union’s own economic models to recreate the map and reveal how "the most heavily subsidized areas (have) the worst pollution". Nearly 40% of the European Union's budget is spent on farm subsidies. The EU is propping up an agricultural industry in Europe which is responsible for numerous environmental crimes which are causing damage to the environment in many different ways. The Times article includes a number of different maps and satellite images to illustrate where and how the EU agricultural industry is damaging the environment.



For example every red line on the map above is a river which has been polluted by nearby farms. The Times article includes numerous other examples of the pollution caused by European farms. It shows how agricultural pollution is harming the environment, wildlife and even the seas and oceans around the continent.

This damage to Europe's environment is being supported by European Union policies and subsidies. In fact it appears that the European Union's agricultural policy has been written to expressly hide the environmental catastrophes which it is supporting across Europe.