Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Eating less meat and dairy products won't have major impact on
global warming
Cutting back on consumption of meat and dairy products will not
have a major impact in combating global warming — despite repeated
claims that link diets rich in animal products to production of
greenhouse gases. That's the conclusion of a report presented today
at the 239th National Meeting of the American Chemical
Society.
Air quality expert Frank Mitloehner, Ph.D., who made the
presentation, said that giving cows and pigs a bum rap is not only
scientifically inaccurate, but also distracts society from
embracing effective solutions to global climate change. He noted
that the notion is becoming deeply rooted in efforts to curb global
warming, citing campaigns for "meatless Mondays" and a European
campaign, called "Less Meat = Less Heat," launched late last
year.
"We certainly can reduce our greenhouse-gas production, but not by
consuming less meat and milk," said Mitloehner, who is with the
University of California-Davis. "Producing less meat and milk will
only mean more hunger in poor countries."
The focus of confronting climate change, he said, should be on
smarter farming, not less farming. "The developed world should
focus on increasing efficient meat production in developing
countries where growing populations need more nutritious food. In
developing countries, we should adopt more efficient, Western-style
farming practices to make more food with less greenhouse gas
production," Mitloehner said.
Developed countries should reduce use of oil and coal for
electricity, heating and vehicle fuels. Transportation creates an
estimated 26 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.,
whereas raising cattle and pigs for food accounts for about 3
percent, he said.
Mitloehner says confusion over meat and milk's role in climate
change stems from a small section printed in the executive summary
of a 2006 United Nations report, "Livestock's Long Shadow." It
read: "The livestock sector is a major player, responsible for 18
percent of greenhouse gas emissions measured in CO2e (carbon
dioxide equivalents). This is a higher share than
transport."
Mitloehner says there is no doubt that livestock are major
producers of methane, one of the greenhouse gases. But he faults
the methodology of "Livestock's Long Shadow," contending that
numbers for the livestock sector were calculated differently from
transportation. In the report, the livestock emissions included
gases produced by growing animal feed; animals' digestive
emissions; and processing meat and milk into foods. But the
transportation analysis factored in only emissions from fossil
fuels burned while driving and not all other transport lifecycle
related factors.
"This lopsided analysis is a classical apples-and-oranges analogy
that truly confused the issue," he said.
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Thanks to American Chemical Society for this article.