How dairy farmers are cashing in on California's push for cleaner fuel
Big dairy farms are profiting from California's tougher limits on greenhouse emissions. They're getting paid to capture methane from cow manure. But critics say the system subsidizes polluters.
California is trying to cut greenhouse emissions from the state's cars and trucks, and in a controversial twist, its efforts are putting cash in the pockets of dairy farms across the country. It's the result of an odd but lucrative trade: pollution cuts on farms, in order to satisfy limits on emissions from California's roadways.
Among those that could reap a windfall is High Plains Ponderosa Dairy, in southwest Kansas. The dairy's thousands of cows spend their days and nights inside long barns. "They've got fans and cooling in the summertime, and they're warmer in the wintertime, but because of that, when your cows poop,
