The EPA is Going After the Amish

The problem is cow patties:

LANCASTER, Pa. — With simplicity as their credo, Amish farmers consume so little that some might consider them model environmental citizens.

“We are supposed to be stewards of the land,” said Matthew Stoltzfus, a 34-year-old dairy farmer and father of seven whose family, like many other Amish, shuns cars in favor of horse and buggy and lives without electricity. “It is our Christian duty.”

But farmers like Mr. Stoltzfus are facing growing scrutiny for agricultural practices that the federal government sees as environmentally destructive. Their cows generate heaps of manure that easily washes into streams and flows onward into the Chesapeake Bay.

Read it here.

The idea is to use the same old bribes and compulsion tactics that the EPA uses on all businesses. Offer government subsidies for change and then levy fines on those who don't comply with the new regs. That's not going to work very well, though, with the plain sects. They don't like government involvement of any kind in their affairs and are highly resistant to change. As the article notes, resistance is growing.