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> Everyone blaming "meat" for global warming is just a shill for the petrol industry, distracting from the real cause (fossil fuels). How so? Even the article

by qayxc 4y ago

> Everyone blaming "meat" for global warming is just a shill for the petrol industry, distracting from the real cause (fossil fuels). How so? Even the article itself brings up various reasons that don't include CO2 emissions; deforestation and water use for example. Cattle in particular are a major source for methane emissions - a much more potent greenhouse gas than CO2. The direct contribution to global warming (via methane emissions) is very low, yes. The problem arises from feeding and waste removal. It's a multi-dimensional issue and no, cows are not just recycled grass - if that were the case they wouldn't have the same impact. Most dairy cows (appr. half the overall cow population) are fed maize, soy, and high-energy supplements in order increase yield. Silages are also frequently used and the fermenting process also adds to the GHG emissions. > Everyone blaming "meat" for global warming is just a shill for the petrol industry, distracting from the real cause (fossil fuels). That doesn't make sense. Modern farm operations rely heavily on fossil fuels and fertiliser. This isn't the 18th century anymore, there aren't herdsmen watching over cows grazing on meadows. This: https://www.agdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/bg-dairy_barn_parlor-001-1968.jpg https://www.agdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/bg-dairy_... is what a modern dairy farm looks like and these feed pellets https://media.istockphoto.com/photos/pellet-feed-for-cows-picture-id459106227 https://media.istockphoto.com/photos/pellet-feed-for-cows-pi... aren't made of just grass either. It's a romanticised image that many still have in mind when thinking of meat production, but it's a heavily mechanised industry today and pictures like this https://ak0.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/4426340/thumb/1.jpg https://ak0.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/4426340/thumb/1.jp... don't reflect a large part of the industry anymore.

tomp 4y ago
Deforestation & water use aren’t a problem in the first world. Maize & soy are also made from captured CO2 like grass. Yes the remaining CO2 released is from energy & transport (oil) used, but that is solved not by demonizing meat, but by improving energy generation (nuclear & solar instead of oil/coal/gas)
- rbanffy 4y ago
  > Deforestation & water use aren’t a problem in the first world. Yes. We pay the third world to do it for us. Lucky we live in different worlds, and what happens there doesn’t impact us, right? > by improving energy generation You are still not accounting for the surface used and the long multi-year process that’s growing a cow.

by qayxc 4y ago

tomp 4y ago

Deforestation & water use aren’t a problem in the first world. Maize & soy are also made from captured CO2 like grass. Yes the remaining CO2 released is from energy & transport (oil) used, but that is solved not by demonizing meat, but by improving energy generation (nuclear & solar instead of oil/coal/gas)

rbanffy 4y ago
> Deforestation & water use aren’t a problem in the first world. Yes. We pay the third world to do it for us. Lucky we live in different worlds, and what happens there doesn’t impact us, right? > by improving energy generation You are still not accounting for the surface used and the long multi-year process that’s growing a cow.