CAFE isnt the answer

[cletus8269]

When it comes to global warming, hamburgers are the Hummers of food, scientists say.

Simply switching from steak to salad could cut as much carbon as leaving the car at home a couple days a week.

That's because beef is such an incredibly inefficient food to produce and cows release so much harmful methane into the atmosphere, said Nathan Pelletier of Dalhousie University in Canada.

Pelletier is one of a growing number of scientists studying the environmental costs of food from field to plate.

By looking at everything from how much grain a cow eats before it is ready for slaughter to the emissions released by manure, they are getting a clearer idea of the true costs of food.

The livestock sector is estimated to account for 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and beef is the biggest culprit.

Even though beef only accounts for 30 percent of meat consumption in the developed world it's responsible for 78 percent of the emissions, Pelletier said Sunday at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

That's because a single kilogram of beef produces 16 kilograms carbon dioxide equivalent emissions: four times higher than pork and more than ten times as much as a kilogram of poultry, Pelletier said.

If people were to simply switch from beef to chicken, emissions would be cut by 70 percent, Pelletier said.

Another part of the problem is people are eating far more meat than they need to.

"Meat once was a luxury in our diet," Pelletier said. "We used to eat it once a week. Now we eat it every day."

If meat consumption in the developed world was cut from the current level of about 90 kilograms a year to the recommended level of 53 kilograms a year, livestock related emissions would fall by 44 percent.

"Given the projected doubling of (global) meat production by 2050, we're going to have to cut our emissions by half just to maintain current levels," Pelletier said.

"Technical improvements are not going to get us there."

That's why changing the kinds of food people eat is so important, said Chris Weber, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania.

Food is the third largest contributor to the average US household's carbon footprint after driving and utilities, and in Europe - where people drive less and have smaller homes - it has an even greater impact.

"Food is of particular importance to a consumer's impact because it's a daily choice that is, at least in theory, easy to change," Weber said.

"You make your choice every day about what to eat, but once you have a house and a car you're locked into that for a while."

The average US household contributes about five tons of carbon dioxide a year by driving and about 3.5 tons of equivalent emissions with what they eat, he said.

"Switching to no red meat and no dairy products is the equivalent of (cutting out) 8,100 miles driven in a car ... that gets 25 miles to the gallon," Weber said in an interview following the symposium.

Buying local meat and produce will not have nearly the same effect, he cautioned.

That's because only five percent of the emissions related to food come from transporting food to market.

"You can have a much bigger impact by shifting just one day a week from meat and dairy to anything else than going local every day of the year," Weber said.

For more information on how to eat a low carbon diet, visit www.eatlowcarbon.org.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CN...;show_article=1

[cletus8269]

i think the whole worlds gone mad. the comments are great though

satty you best stay low, they may come for you too hehehe

[capriceman]

That thing that bothers me about this is that meat has dropped in price lately and cattle farmers don't have an easy life as it is so if we switch then they are the true ones that get hurt by this. Its not like they can switch to planting lettuce over night because they don't have the equipment or field space to be profitable. cattle requires less acreage than plants do. My fathers side of the family has lots of pig farms up a little be north of west branch MI., and in the past 2 years 3 of them have filed bankruptcy because so many people have stopped buying meat and the prices are rock bottom. with grain and corn prices going up there feed bills have become insane.

[Intrepidation]

I think I'll have a burger for dinner tonight.

[Croc]

"Simply switching from steak to salad"? Uh huh, thanks for the advertisement, PeTA!

[ZL-1]

Can't they just stick a catalytic converter in the cow's ass?

[Teh Ricer Civic!]

DONT EAT BEEF OR ELSE!

thats a good message. I think ill have some more beef for the third straight day in a row thanks to this article.

[pow]

Changing a cow's diet (e.g., alfalfa grass) will reduce its CH4 emissions. I know Aussie scientists are looking into kangaroos, which have a bacteria that allows them to digest the same grasses that cows eat, minus the flatulence.

And you could always burn CH4 for energy - Top Gear once did a "poo powered" vehicle test. Burning CH4 gives you CO2 and H2O, which isa good thing, because CH4 has 20 times greater global warming potential (GWP) than CO2.

CAFE, btw, is more about our national energy policy (i.e., how much oil we import) than our national environmental policy. Addressing cow CH4 emissions won't change that.

[gm4life]

I think I'll have a burger for dinner tonight.

Ata boy I am with you DF. The whole world has gone mad.

[Camino LS6]

Let me get this straight, they weren't satisfied with ruining cars for me so they will now attempt to ruin food too?

Screw these people!

Time to speed up the decline in the birth rate worldwide - zero population growth can solve all of our environmental problems more effectively than anything else.

[pow]

Let me get this straight, they weren't satisfied with ruining cars for me so they will now attempt to ruin food too?

Screw these people!

Time to speed up the decline in the birth rate worldwide - zero population growth can solve all of our environmental problems more effectively than anything else.

None of the suggestions I mentioned above will "ruin" food - naturally-raised beef is not only better for you, it tastes better, too. Burning away CH4 might add some cost, but meat is still very inexpensive.

[regfootball]

Ata boy I am with you DF. The whole world has gone mad.

sometimes, we even get MAD COWS!!!!

i hope this is another example of people starting to read between the lines and see the $h! that these GW dickheads are spewing.

you can't take away an American's burger.

[Intrepidation]

I had pizza and not burgers...but it had beef in it. Tomorrow will be burgers.