Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has visited the king to hand in the resignation of his four-party coalition, setting the deeply divided Netherlands on track for a general election later this year.
    • Kelho@lemmy.ml
      4·
      1 year ago

      Thanks for the context! Im a bit out of the loop, what is this nitrogen crisis you mentioned?

      • Hairypooper@lemmy.world
        4·
        1 year ago

        For the past decades, farmers have been pushed by the agrarian industry to keep more and more cows for beef and dairy. This has caused huge nitrogen emissions that now are wreaking havoc on our nature. Politicians have been too gummy with the industry, and too scared of their electorate, to do anything about it.

        So now they have been forced by the supreme court to drastically cut emissions before 2035. This has caused massive protests from the farmers, who have resorted to violent attacks on the government, and physically threatening politicians and their families.

        Tldr; it’s a shitshow caused by political nearsightedness and lack of leadership.

      • Odo@lemmy.world
        3·
        1 year ago

        I had the same question, and it led to an interesting Google search. Turns out it’s been going on a few years now, and even has a wiki entry. A combination of farm runoff and vehicle pollution is screwing up the soil, water, and air. Feels so weird I hadn’t even heard of this.