THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch farmers resumed protests Wednesday against government plans to reduce nitrogen emissions by dumping manure and garbage on roads and burning them along roads.
The traffic government said several roads in central and eastern Netherlands were completely blocked or blocked by early morning and that the fire branch rushed to clear roads as traffic piled up. Cleanup operations had to take hours on some roads.
Dutch media reported that a sign was left in one position reading: “Sorry for the inconvenience, Rutte IV is driving us to despair,” referring to Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s government, the fourth coalition he led.
The latest protests in a summer of discontent came a day after a government-appointed mediator sent invitations to farmers’ organizations to talk about the tactics of the country’s ruling coalition to reduce nitrogen emissions.
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“I see the talks as a turning point: breaking the deadlock together,” mediator Johan Remkes said. “The company has confided in me that there is room and that non-unusual responses are possible. “
Some farmers have rejected Remkes’ appointment as an independent mediator because he is a member of Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s center-right political party and a former deputy prime minister.
Farmers are on the government’s goals of restricting emissions of nitrogen oxide and ammonia, which they say threaten to destroy their agricultural way of life and bankrupt them.
The government says emissions of nitrogen oxide and ammonia, produced by livestock, must be significantly reduced near natural spaces that are part of a network of habitats for endangered plants and wildlife that stretches across the European Union of 27 countries.
The ruling coalition needs to reduce polluting emissions nationwide by 50% by 2030 and called the move an “inevitable transition” to soil, air and water quality in a country known for its extensive agricultural practices. He called on the provincial government to expand plans to scale back and allocated another 24. 3 billion euros ($24. 6 billion) to fund the changes.
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Farmers say they are unfairly targeted, while other industries, such as aviation, structure and transport, also contribute to emissions and face less broad standards. They also say the government is not giving them a transparent picture of their long-term term as a component of the proposed reforms.
Earlier this year, farmers blocked roads with tractors and blocked distribution centers.