2lbs of Beef Produce the Greenhouse Gas Emissions of a 3hr d
Pepe Silvia
Posts: 3,758
http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/joshua ... our_drive/
Two Pounds of Beef Produce the Greenhouse Gas Emissions of a Three-Hour Drive While leaving all the lights at home burning bright during the trip.
New Scientist: "Meat is Murder on the Environment" ...
A kilogram of beef is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution than driving for 3 hours while leaving all the lights on back home.
This is among the conclusions of a study by Akifumi Ogino of the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Tsukuba, Japan, and colleagues, which has assessed the effects of beef production on global warming, water acidification and eutrophication, and energy consumption...
Their analysis showed that producing a kilogram of beef ... is responsible for the equivalent of the amount of CO2 emitted by the average European car every 250 kilometres, and burns enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for nearly 20 days.
Hat-tip to Ezra Klein, who anticipates the inevitable cries that these kinds of studies set the stage for the proverbial jack-booted thugs to take away Americans' God-given right to a nice Salisbury steak:
As always, the issue isn't that people shouldn't eat burgers. They should just know what's entailed in eating that burger. Plenty of folks are appalled to see a living room light left on but would never think to trade the cheeseburger for a grilled cheese.
Two Pounds of Beef Produce the Greenhouse Gas Emissions of a Three-Hour Drive While leaving all the lights at home burning bright during the trip.
New Scientist: "Meat is Murder on the Environment" ...
A kilogram of beef is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution than driving for 3 hours while leaving all the lights on back home.
This is among the conclusions of a study by Akifumi Ogino of the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Tsukuba, Japan, and colleagues, which has assessed the effects of beef production on global warming, water acidification and eutrophication, and energy consumption...
Their analysis showed that producing a kilogram of beef ... is responsible for the equivalent of the amount of CO2 emitted by the average European car every 250 kilometres, and burns enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for nearly 20 days.
Hat-tip to Ezra Klein, who anticipates the inevitable cries that these kinds of studies set the stage for the proverbial jack-booted thugs to take away Americans' God-given right to a nice Salisbury steak:
As always, the issue isn't that people shouldn't eat burgers. They should just know what's entailed in eating that burger. Plenty of folks are appalled to see a living room light left on but would never think to trade the cheeseburger for a grilled cheese.
don't compete; coexist
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
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haha you take the fight to them there so we don't have to have it here
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
i've read some about all the enivornmental issues associated with meat consumption but that definitely is a great illustration. and yikes, that sucks. so all the more i need to turn off lights, recycle, use public transport, etc...to try and offset somewhat my occasional burgers. i love burgers!
Let's just breathe...
I am myself like you somehow
this is one dumb study. who gives a shit? what can we do about cows farting?
perhaps it's simply drawing attention to HOW we go about rasing beef, is not environmentally friendly, and that maybe...we could develop better, more sustainable methods? i think articles like these are good, to point out just what our choices amount to....and then maybe we will realize, we should work towards better solutions. it's kinda like the campaign for buying local produce...probably healthier for you, and also for the planet...cutting back on transport costs and all. so i do disagree, i don't think it's a dumb study at all.
Let's just breathe...
I am myself like you somehow
what about every time i let one slip in my office? or people with halitosis? where does it stop?
if it has something to do with production, maybe it's worth looking into. but i fail to see what we can do... the cows are still going to be there. and there's no way they hold a candle to what we do to the atmosphere.
Except cheese comes from milk and milk comes from cows so we are right back at the same problem.
or goats
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
i guarantee you it'd be a matter of months before we see the same study saying goats are destroying the planet becos of the milk industry. this is nonsense PETA propaganda. it's not about the environment, it's about looking for reasons to take on the meat industry. which is fine. but they should be honest about it.
according to the article in New Scientist you would see it's not just from 'a cow farting' but also the transport of it's feed and waste removal is calculated, energy used on the farming methods (although doesn't facotr in transportation to the slaughterhouse and to where you buy it)....it's not saying it's all on the cow
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
fair enough. i buy organic every chance i get anyway. you can definitely taste the difference. things taste better when they die happy and free
damn this thread... my coworkers are planning mexican for lunch and now i am craving a burger so bad it's not even funny!
excellent bumper sticker!
buy organic!
things taste better when they die happy and free.
tho technically, that's not just about being organic...but free-range.
btw - why in the hell would you ever get a burger when going out for mexican?! holy shit. waaaayyyyyy more tasty options there!
Let's just breathe...
I am myself like you somehow
i won't be getting a burger, i'm just saying i wish we were going to a burger place. i'm totally goign to get one this weekend. for now... chicken and cheese will do
oh i see. alrighty then.
i actually wanted a burger last night, but we had hubby's yummy bbq'ed buffalo wings instead. however, i still want a burger. yet, there are chicken breasts defrosting in the frige as i type. eh well. i think i'll tell him i'd rather he bbq up some burgers tonight.
(btw isn't it sad how discussing food here can so often make you want that food? happens all the time, at least with me)
Let's just breathe...
I am myself like you somehow
Also I've been reading some books on water lately, which is another issue but, I was surprised to read this:
"It takes 3000 gallons [of water] to grow the feed for enough cow to make a quarter pounder, and between 500 and 1000 gallons for that cow to fill its udders with a quart of milk"
over 11000 litres of water for a hamburger :shock:
But if you don't kill the cow to make the burger isn't he just going to keep drinking more and more water, until he dies a natural death?
you are essentially growing the cows to eat, and in doing so you are using so much water to harvest so much grain for livestock. if the humans don't eat the livestock, there is no business in growing the cow.
yeah, grass fed is definitely better for you because it will have omega-3's in it, seeds and things like soy-and corn-based feed are loaded with omega-6's which can actually be bad for you by promoting blood clotting, inflammation and other things.
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
Cattle for slaughter will produce ~800 lbs of meat. That would be 3,200 1/4 pounders. If it takes 3,000 gallons for each quarter pounder, that is 9.6 MILLION gallons of water per head!!!
The average steer/heifer that goes to slaughter lives for 3 years (1,095 days). So if we divide 9.6MM by that, we come up with 8,767 GALLONS PER DAY!!!
The first 20 years of my life I spent working on my dad's farm and during the winter we sometimes had to haul water to a herd of 50-60. It was a 10,000 gallon tank and it would last about 10-14 days for all 50-60 cows. So, that means about 15 gallons per day per head.... NOT 8,767 gallons per day.
Where did you get those numbers?
As far as the greenhouse gas problem, the only thing I would suggest is buying locally grown beef/milk. Also, there is big money in development of grass/pasture mixes that don't produce so much methane when digested. Remember that if you switch from eating one thing to another (we all still have to eat) you are merely switching your carbon footprint from cows to vegetables. True, eating meat equals a larger footprint, but a good portion of that footprint is going to exist unless you stop eating completely.
not the water they drink directly, the water it takes to produce the feed for them to produce that amount of meat.
ummm... yeah... like the water that falls from the freakin' sky on to the corn and grass/pasture that feeds them? should we tell god to turn off the spicket ???
WTF
It's always nice to see a post from someone that is genuinely educated about the question. No offense meant to other posters.