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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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 Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 2:55 am Post subject: Blame Cows Before Cars For Greenhouse Gases |
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A new report from FAO says livestock production contributes to the world's most pressing environmental problems, including global warming, land degradation, air and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity. Using a methodology that considers the entire commodity chain, it estimates that livestock are responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, a bigger share than that of transport. However, the report says, the livestock sector's potential contribution to solving environmental problems is equally large, and major improvements could be achieved at reasonable cost.
Deforestation, greenhouse gases. The livestock sector is by far the single largest anthropogenic user of land. Grazing occupies 26 percent of the Earth's terrestrial surface, while feed crop production requires about a third of all arable land. Expansion of grazing land for livestock is a key factor in deforestation, especially in Latin America: some 70 percent of previously forested land in the Amazon is used as pasture, and feed crops cover a large part of the reminder. About 70 percent of all grazing land in dry areas is considered degraded, mostly because of overgrazing, compaction and erosion attributable to livestock activity. |
http://www.fao.org/ag/magazine/0612sp1.htm
I don't post this for any political reason, but because I find the findings to be quite astonishing. I grew up in a family of cattle ranchers. |
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mnhnhyouh
Joined: 21 Nov 2006
Location: The Middle Kingdom
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| Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 3:10 am Post subject: |
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That is a bit of a surprise. The numbers for deforestation I knew, but livestock is a bit of a shock. If the cost of carbon emissions is included in that of meat I suspect the price increase might reduce consumption somewhat.
Grain fed beef has always seemed a silly idea to me, IIRC it takes 1000 kg of grain to add 1kg of meat, or is that figure too high?
So to raise a 500kg cow takes 500,000 kg of grain? Too high I suspect.
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 3:14 am Post subject: |
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| YES. Exactly, taxation ought to reflect harm. Tax emissions, pollution etc. Income taxes are inefficient, counterproductive and immoral. Consumption taxes based upon calculated harm (which, admittedly, would be hard to figure) are a much more sane way to gather government revenue. Don't tax the things you want, and tax the hell out of that which you don't. Anyhow, back to the original topic. |
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nautilus
Joined: 26 Nov 2005
Location: Je jump, Tu jump, oui jump!
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| Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 4:26 am Post subject: |
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Blame humans for making the cows 
There are a lot of cows because people have bred them and put them there.... |
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