Background Nitrogen Mood
Sweltering anticlimax after nitrogen conversation at Remkes
After the meeting on 5 August between a cabinet delegation and LTO Nederland with nitrogen moderator/mediator Johan Remkes, there was a kind of anticlimax this week. The conversation had yielded nothing, because the cabinet did not come up with the expected openings or promises, even though Remkes signaled space. In agriculture, several drivers almost felt cheated. FDF leader Mark van den Oever even threatened the hardest actions ever. It remained quiet. In our new weekly section Nitrogen Mood we give an impression of the nitrogen crisis in our own way.
It is said to have been well massaged for this. An alternative nitrogen plan of 2 emeritus professors from the circle of D66 also shifted the focus. According to their calculations, the nitrogen reduction that the government demands from agriculture can also be met without clearing one animal.
The cabinet and in particular D66 Member of Parliament Tjeerd de Groot have not yet responded to this. The latter is perhaps understandable. Professors Lindeboom and Sanders were once in an agricultural focus group that advised De Groot, but Tjeerd did not receive the advice he wanted to hear and distanced himself from this group.
Remarkable radio silence
Yet De Groot's radio silence is remarkable. He is an avid twitterer and quickly finds a reason, but in the past week there was lag the focus elsewhere.
In the meantime, Van den Oever has changed his mind and 'as a gesture of goodwill' waives further actions, he said. in a video. He may have come to the conclusion that it is not always necessary to push something when processes do all their work themselves.
Evidence to the contrary is piling up
In the background, scientific evidence is piling up against the deposition-driven approach, as propagated by the cabinet (and as rigged by RIVM). Not only TNO wipes the floor with, for example, critical deposition values with 3 decimal places and then also attributable to a specific group of 'culprits'. An increasing number of other studies and experts are doing the same, including the aforementioned Messrs Lindeboom and Sanders. Two things stand out about these experts.
Connected in doubt
The critical voices largely come from experts who are no longer employed by, for example, WUR or other institutes and who are therefore no longer in a government hierarchy, but free of interests.
In addition, these scientists no longer have a problem citing experts who have been banned by mainstream experts, such as Jaap Hanekamp. Scientific doubt about the RIVM line apparently connects.
What is happening in the meantime between the interest representatives and the cabinet? Officially we have to wait for a new round with Rutte's handyman Remkes. Probing conversations are already taking place in the background. LTO Nederland and the other agricultural interest groups (the member organisations) will also meet again next week to further fine-tune their strategy.
Trust must always be renewed
This is necessary, because mutual trust has to be renewed again and again. The LTO leadership quickly finds some of the other organizations radical and difficult and there is a strong urge to negotiate further. The latter is less prevalent among the more critical organizations and the fear persists that LTO will eventually conclude a separate agreement, possibly with the support of a few management clubs, such as Regie op Ruimte and Transitiecoalitie Voeding.
From deposition to emission?
That fear of an agreement without the critical organizations suddenly received new food last week when it was pointed out that Minister Van der Wal was walking around with area maps that talked about emission policy instead of deposition policy. The question immediately arose as to whether an alternative policy would not be secretly being prepared, now that the current deposition-oriented policy is encountering more and more obstacles. In addition, LTO leader Van der Tak also talked about emissions. Or was that just a slip of the tongue by the Westland greenhouse horticulturist, who is not the strongest in the nitrogen dossier?
Klaas van der Horst
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