Climate-Change Authority Advocates Vegetarianism
posted by: Heather Moore 29 days ago
It might take a while for Al Gore and other noted “environmentalists” in the U.S. to branch out from giving “safe” advice like "use energy-efficient light bulbs" and "recycle"—and American politicians may not even be all that quick to promote an official meat-free day—but one of the top climate chiefs in the U.K. is taking the lead. Lord Stern, the author of the 2006 Stern Review on global warming, recently told The Times, “Meat is a wasteful use of water and creates a lot of greenhouse gases. It puts enormous pressure on the world’s resources. A vegetarian diet is better.”
Amen to that! This issue will hopefully now be a key topic of discussion at the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December. As The Times noted, Stern is in favor of a “successful deal” that will send the cost of meat and other foods that generate lots of greenhouse gases, soaring.
A recent World Watch Magazine article by Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang indicates that the livestock sector is responsible for 51 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions each year. The article, Livestock and Climate Change, calls cows, chickens, and pigs “key actors” in climate change.
Many people are quick to point the finger at Hummers and power plants, but when researchers compared the amount of fossil fuel necessary to produce various foods, they found that switching to a vegan diet is even more effective in countering climate change than switching from a gas-guzzler to a hybrid.
If you measured power plants by CO2 alone, they would appear to emit more greenhouse-gas emissions than animal agriculture does. However, power plants don't generate energy for their own sake, but rather to provide power for industrial and consumer purposes—like operating factory farms.
In fact, the meat, egg, and dairy industries use enormous amounts of electricity from power plants to process feed crops; to provide ventilation, lighting, and heat for factory farms; to operate slaughterhouses and processing plants; and to refrigerate animals' flesh, eggs, and milk for transportation around the country. Overall, it takes 11 times as much fossil fuel to produce a gram of animal protein as it does to produce a gram of plant protein.
When responding to criticism that measures to tackle climate change are partly to blame for the rise in food and energy costs, Yvo de Boer, the head of the United Nations climate agency, said, "The best solution would be for us all to become vegetarians."
As I’ve mentioned before, other environmental experts are onboard with this idea, including Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, the chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, who implores people to have at least one meat-free day a week to help halt climate change, but ultimately to go vegetarian.
And now we can add Lord Stern to the list. While not a strict vegetarian himself, his views and actions will likely continue to evolve, just as he predicts that people’s attitudes will evolve until meat eating becomes unacceptable.
If I’m still alive when this happens, I’ll figure out how to do a backflip.
Read more: energy, meat, copenhagen, vegan, vegetarianism, vegetarian, global warming, climate change, greenhouse gasses, climate change conference
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If any one is still following this post, I have just posted a link to a news article that you might find interesting.
http://www.care2.com/news/member/123012853/1304275
It talks about what is required for a fair, environmentally friendly and healthy diet.
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I can do without red meat, I am not just not ready to give up my chicken and turkey, and about every other month i want steak. I try my best. We have 1-2 nights a week we go meatless. Kids are learning to like tofu!!
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The author of this article is apparently unaware that humans need animal protein. Red meat, or more preferrably, white. (I learned this from managing continuing edu. for medical pros).
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I will keep this short - Go Jade !!!
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Kudos to Gabi, Kirsten, Wood Dragon, & Ellen for recognizing this is not a "battlefield" issue (as many are making it)! This "us vs them" mentality is a waste of time - cause here's the deal: we ALL live on the SAME little blue and green planet! It's not like we have another planet to move to and start our own society. LOL I'm hearing the word "heritage" a lot lately - as in "they're threatening our heritage of...(fill in the blank)." It's time we learned we're all one, it's one planet, and everything we do affects someone else. The interesting thing is if we don't start coming together to deal with forces bigger than we are, WE are the ones that will be wiped out - Gaia will continue to spin and will reforest, regrass, renew herself without us around to screw it up again! This is way beyond "my team is better than yours!" mentality - it's gotta be a group effort or it won't be enough in time. So let's lighten up and remember life is too short to drink bad wine - and start talking WITH others instead of AT them. It's time for serious suggestions/solutions, not labels and name calling.
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James - Very good observation. My answer is yes, you can be.
You do bring up an interesting point. If the criteria for being an environmentalist is defined by the narrow and single minded, than some of the largest contributors to environmental issues across the ages would be disqualified.
To villify or belittle the efforts of people who don't adhere to a narrowly prescribed version of what it means to contribute positively to the needs of this planet, is counterproductive and elitist.
I grow my own fruit and vegetables, have personally rescued, rehabilitated and placed thousands (yes, I said thousands) of injured, abandoned, abused and needy cats, dogs, birds, repitiles and small animals and even wildlife. I utilize solar power, build green, shop discriminantly, support various charities and local and world organizations, drive as little as possible, avoid factory farm products and support locally raised and grown....the list is long. But apparently my efforts as well as those of many others are negated by the fact that I am not a vegetarian and due to health issues (save it all you know it alls) will never be.
Its lucky for ecosystems and all the creatures whose lives I have contributed to in a positive way, that my motives and gratification are not dependent on the biases and prejudices of small minded people.
Am I a true environmentalist? According to definitions I am. But that is really irrelevant to me. Actions define who I am, not labels or intolerance.
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I see plenty of good arguments for vegetarianism and I will be glad to be one...in my next lifetime.
Seriously, though, the problem is more too many people than too many animals. If one is in the business of dictating people's choices, can one be an environmentalist and have more than one child?
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Vicente - You are very mistaken.
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Forget Al Gore. It's up to us to take responsibility for ourselves, the animals, and the earth. Environmentalism isn't about driving hybrids or changing light bulbs. It's about making kind, rational decisions all day long every day. No, you can't be a meat eating environmentalist... or healthy, or spiritual, or kind. What you can and would be is a speciesist, and in true speciesist's form, can and would believe in absurdities and commit atrocities.
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Thought I would add something funny to the mix...
I have been meat free for 15 years and my 5 year old daughter has never eaten meat. But the gases we sometimes omit from our bottoms, I am sure it throws our carbon footprint off the scale!!
And please stop being 'stuffy' about who is better than the other. It is irrelevant. We are all different and have different tastes. We all have free will and we should not dictate to others what they should eat!!
Peace to you all
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