![]() |
|
|
May 13, 2007 at 14:18:27
Fight Global Warming; Go Vegan! by david baake Page 1 of 1 page(s) |
|
|
Probably the easiest, cheapest, and most effective way to reduce your contribution to climate change is to adopt a vegan diet, or at least reduce your consumption of animal products. According to the United Nations, “raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined.” The livestock sector is responsible for some 9 per cent of human CO2 emissions, as well as “65 per cent of human-related nitrous oxide, which has 296 times the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of CO2... 37 per cent of all human-induced methane (23 times as warming as CO2)... and 64 per cent of ammonia, which contributes significantly to acid rain.” Livestock production is also responsible for 70 per cent of the deforestation that has occurred in the Amazon rain forest, a tragedy which has resulted in a decline in biodiversity and contributed to global climate change. [1] A recent study by two scientists in the geophysical science department at the University of Chicago found similar results: “The average American diet requires the production of an extra ton and a half of carbon dioxide-equivalent, in the form of actual carbon dioxide as well as methane and other greenhouse gases compared to a strictly vegetarian (vegan) diet.” The difference between a vegan diet and the average American diet, in terms of greenhouse emissions, “is comparable to the difference between driving an SUV and driving a reasonable sedan.” [2] By adopting a vegan diet, you can reduce your personal greenhouse gas emissions, and thus your personal contribution to global warming, by 1.5 tons of CO2. You can also save the lives of about 100 animals per year and benefit your health as well. [3] The choice is yours. If you care about the environment, animals, and yourself, you need to consider going vegan. More information on veganism, go to www.goveg.com or www.veganoutreach.org
-
[1]http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=20772&Cr=global&Cr1=environment
[2] http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/06/060413.diet.shtml / http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1856817&page=1
[3] http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Apr07/Moore21.htm
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Contact Author |
Contact Editor |
View Authors' Articles |
|
|
|
|
| 6 comments |
|
PLEASE
You need to get educated. Additional information http://www.InteliOrg.com/co2_climate_change.html by DrColes (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 23 comments) on Sunday, May 13, 2007 at 9:21:43 PM
|
|
This is nuts
Sorry, but this is a feel good piece disconnected from reality. A sustainable agricultural system will be small-scale and decentralized, unlike today's industrial farming. It can hardly do without animals for food, fertilizer, and labor. Anyone in contact with small scale farming can tell you that. Livestock raised on small family farms in the US are not going to destroy the Amazon rain forests. The problem isn't too many animals releasing CO2; the problem is too many people, even if they all became vegans. The guilt-soothing idea that becoming a vegan is somehow going to deal meaningfully with the problems of a run-away, unstainable society is a psychological distraction. Schumacher was wrong. Stop thinking globally, and start thinking locally. Some of the most viable local food will be meat. Most analyses like this depend on national and global data bases which are largely irrelevant to what it will take to survive locally. by Kuzminski (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 93 comments) on Sunday, May 13, 2007 at 9:29:51 PM
|
|
Absolutely Correct!
I have been waiting for this issue to come up. *The author of this short opinion piece is abso-effing-lutely correct. Perhaps his two paragraph explanation of how the meat centered system is all tied together was/is a bit rushed and does not convey the whole picture and so could use some fleshing out ( no pun intended)? The two negative responders who poo poo the idea should actually read the footnotes & links BEFORE embarrassing themselves...? Hmmm? You're gonna feel really silly when you take your head outta there & stop admiring your own colon long enough to actually find out the facts. Denial and obfuscation are simply tactics to AVOID facing facts and taking responsibility. A lot of people WANT to remain blissfully ignorant because they are lazy, selfish and afraid of change. Denial allows them to remain lazy AND selfish. http://www.goveg.com/environment.asp http://www.goveg.com/environment-globalwarming.asp NOTE: "In a groundbreaking 2006 report, the United Nations (U.N.) said that raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined. Senior U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization official Henning Steinfeld reported that the meat industry is "one of the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems." http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Apr07/Moore21.htm by mrk * (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 311 comments [12 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, May 14, 2007 at 7:06:46 PM
|
|
Reply: don't jump to conclusions
Going vegan is no solution to the global ecocrisis because it presupposes a continuation of the same scale of human exploitation of the planet. Of course too much livestock is being raised; too much of everything is being raised. There are simply too many people. A drastic reduction of human population is the best way to stop destroying the earth. A much smaller population will not have to make these kinds of trade-offs. And don't presume what the rest of us posting objections know or don't know. Are you a farmer, or just another person sitting all day in front of a computer reading a few things here and there and developing an opinion? Do you know anything about the role of animals in agriculture? by Kuzminski (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 93 comments) on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 at 7:32:13 AM
|
|
Reply: Your answer...
I was - Raised on a working dairy farm... started working "in the barn" @ age seven, made DAILY trips for YEARS to the co-op dairy to deliver the milk, drove tractors, threw bales, watched calves born, watched the annual cow be slaughtered, gutted, hung up, butchered, ate it... raised hundreds (nay thousands) of fryers ( chickens for market )... then... @ age 21 became a vegan , that was 40 years ago. NEVER regretted it for one second. The more I have learned about meat as a protein source in the human diet, the MORE I am convinced that being vegan is THE RIGHT choice. From any angle: personal health, environmental damage, moral and ethical issues. Normally I do NOT evangelize on diet issues - what you put in your mouth is a personal matter - eh? I DON'T CARE what you eat! (You can eat sh*t for all I care & you probably do. Since you probably don't know how most of what you eat is produced.) However... However, in modern industrial agri-biz it takes roughly TEN times more grain & water and fossil fuels to raise a pound of meat as it would take if humans consumed those resources directly. And the pollution - is way out of control. I'm not assuming what you know, or if you actually know anything at all - only that you are most likely reluctant to face the facts because it would require you to take some responsiblilty for your own ignorance! Yeah - I KNOW what I'm talking about... Do you? by mrk * (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 311 comments [12 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, May 19, 2007 at 7:22:04 PM
|
|
Addendum
More that 1/3 of all fossil fuels produced in the United States go towards animal agriculture. According to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (1), the production of one calorie of animal protein requires more than ten times the fossil fuel input as a calorie of plant protein. This means that ten times the amount of carbon dioxide is emitted as well. Where does all this waste occur? You can not dredge up anything to dispute this info - You can do it voluntarily OR nature & time WILL impose those changes by force. by mrk * (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 311 comments [12 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, May 19, 2007 at 7:40:18 PM
|
Want to post your own comment on this Article?
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tell a Friend:
|
Copyright © 2002-2009, OpEdNews |