Okay, we’re never going to get the Steves of the world to get it on climate change. When Miami is underwater, they’ll be explaining to us how absurd it is to think New York is next, because, after all, one pseudo-scientist on the Koch brothers’ payroll who says last night’s blizzard signifies the coming of the next ice age means it’s not unanimous. And if it’s not unanimous, well…
Which unfortunately means we have to do more ourselves in the near term.
In that regard, are you feeling good about the Prius you drive and the panels on the roof? Yeah, same here. So, the morning after a nice lamb chop dinner, I read this, from Chris Hedges in A Haven from the Animal Holocaust:
Animal agriculture sends more greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere than worldwide transportation. The waste and flatulence from livestock are responsible for creating at least 32,000 million tons of carbon dioxide per year, or 51 percent of all worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Livestock causes 65 percent of all emissions of anthropogenic nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas 296 times more destructive than carbon dioxide. Crops raised to feed livestock consume 56 percent of the water used in the United States. Seventy percent of the crops we grow in the U.S. are fed to animals. Eighty percent of the world’s soy crop is fed to animals. It is a flagrant waste of precious and diminishing resources. It takes 1,000 gallons of water to produce one gallon of milk.
I’d seen this before. It’s not the first time Hedges has written about it. I’ve even acted on it for short bursts of time.
But it’s time to do better. A lot better. Please join me.
Discover more from Blog for Arizona
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Dear Bob,
Welcome to the wonderful world of veganism. It’s not only better for the planet, it turns out it’s also much better for you.
Great resources out there, including books by Caldwell Esselytn and his son, and a website that I rely on for lots of good nutrition advice:
nutritionfacts.org
I hope you enjoy this way of life as much as I do.
Jim
Thanks, Jim. My biggest challenge will be getting my family to go along, but I’m working on it.
I have two friends who are vegans and have been so for at leats 15 years, and they both suggested you do some research and take some supplements, such as B12 and possibly Vitamin D. Good luck on your new endeavor.
Thanks, Steve, but my objective here is to cut way back on meat consumption. Vegan purity is not essential to me.
You don’t have to worry about getting the “Steves” of the world on board regarding climate change. I think the climate IS changing. Where we differ is on the cause. I believe it is a natural change and that man is not the culprit that is responsible for all the change. And I strongly object to the United States, Canada and Western Europe bearing the burden of compensating the world for the so called “man caused” damage. Man’s ability to damage the world is miniscule compared to natural change, and our ability to “heal” the world is equally miniscule compared to nature.
Environmental activists have, since the beginning of the movement, hated mankind and sought ways to punish us for crimes against Gaia, the Mother. This is simply a continuation of that self loathing and self hatred on a much grander scale.
Even a pound of tofu eats up (absorbes?) a little over 300 gallons of water according to the Huffington Post. What’s a responsible person to do?
Makes my swimming pool seem like a conservationist’s dream.