Burning Brazil rainforest for cattle ranching NASA
When I first started writing about meat consumption and its ridiculously huge contribution to global warming I was one of the very few doing so. The
Meatless Monday site had just started up, but at the time it focused primarily on the health benefits of a reduced meat diet. And of course there was
PETA and a few others who focused on the animal rights aspect for reducing meat consumption. That was back in July 2008 and there had been some sporadic rumblings about the connection between meat consumption and climate change due to the seminal UN study
Livestock's Long Shadow which had been published at the end of 2006. The study was a stunner:
A new report from FAO says livestock production is one of the major causes of the world's most pressing environmental problems, including global warming, land degradation, air and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity. Using a methodology that considers the entire commodity chain, it estimates that livestock are responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, a bigger share than that of transport. However, the report says, the livestock sector's potential contribution to solving environmental problems is equally large, and major improvements could be achieved at reasonable cost.
The news was picked up by a few journalists the most prominent being Mark Bittman writing at the New York Times about Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler.
A SEA change in the consumption of a resource that Americans take for granted may be in store—something cheap, plentiful, widely enjoyed and a part of daily life. And it isn’t oil. It’s meat.
The two commodities share a great deal: Like oil, meat is subsidized by the federal government. Like oil, meat is subject to accelerating demand as nations become wealthier, and this, in turn, sends prices higher. Finally—like oil—meat is something people are encouraged to consume less of, as the toll exacted by industrial production increases, and becomes increasingly visible.
Except for the Greenpeace
investigations into the causes of deforestation, there were mostly crickets coming from the major
green groups and most environmental journalists. It seemed that the study was swept under the rug and that the people who did hear about it didn't want to acknowledge the possibility that perhaps they might be called upon to make some changes and small sacrifices in their own lives.
It's been a long lonely road but finally I'm having some company. With the soft release of the news that Al Gore has become vegan and George Monbiot admitting that he has seen the light, some of the major environmental voices are joining the movement to reduce meat consumption to stop the worst effects of climate change. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Daily Kos had the courage to promote an environmental meatless advocate, me, to the front page. Daily Kos becoming at major environmental voice? You heard it here.