Converting cow manure to fuel is growing climate solution, but critics say communities put at risk

The stench of cow feces, urine and ammonia forces residents to keep windows and doors closed in parts of California’s farming country. Some people constantly run air purifiers at home to counter the smell and, they say, fight off air-related ailments. 

“We have a lot of health problems going around in this community and most of them are respiratory problems,” said Beverly Whitfield amid dairies in Pixley, a small town in Tulare County. She believes her allergies, her adult son’s asthma and others’ breathing issues are linked to pollution from nearby dairies. 

California has become a leader in curbing methane emissions from dairy farms, a major source of the greenhouse gas. In recent decades, digesters that convert cow manure and other organic waste into biomethane to create electricity or to fuel vehicles have spread nationally, and the number is expected to grow.

But this touted climate solution is controversial: Environmental justice organizations say mostly low-income, Latino communities are dealing with pollution generated by nearby digesters, and they want California to stop providing financial incentives for more. They say policies favor large industrial dairies, entrenching unsustainable animal agriculture and encouraging production of waste.