Todd Luger :: Blog :: Global Warming

As many of you no doubt know, the raising of cattle accounts for more greenhouse gas emissions than automobiles. This has led many greens to go vegan. However, as I detailed in a previous post, despite popular misconceptions, veganism is likely to result in negative health effects. So, I decided to do some further investigating. I am well aware that most cows are corn fed their entire lives. Corn is unnatural diet for cows and is the main reason commercial beef is so unhealthy (also discussed in my earlier post). Since one of the main reasons raising cattle leads to increased greenhouse gas emissions is their methane emissions, I immediately wondered if cows on their natural diet of grass would fare differently. According to the Institute for Environmental Research and Education, "Although an animal raised on pasture actually produces more methane...the pasture itself reduces the CO2 in the air through a process called 'carbon sequestration.'" This sequestration is no small thing. According to a new study from Duke University:

"Grasses are deceptively productive," says lead investigator Robert Jackson. "You don't see where all the carbon goes, so there is a misconception that woody species [such as trees and shrubs] store more carbon. That's just not the case." Grasses store vast amounts of carbon in their underground root mass.

Raising cattle on grass is one way to make it financially feasible to expand our native grasslands. Although cows generate their own greenhouse gasses, the net effect of raising ruminants on pasture is to slow global warming.

Yes, you read that right. Cattle raised on grass have a net negative effect on greenhouse gas emissions. This doesn't just lead to less emissions than before, it reduces the total emissions below zero. Now, granted, planting grasses and getting rid of cows would do even more, but let's be reasonable. That just ain't gonna happen. I suggest if you want to make the best compromise between your personal health and the health of the planet, eat only small amounts of beef and eat only grass-fed or wild animals. Some might consider this a sellout, but I am totally convinced by overwhelming evidence that I am not wrong on the health issue. The issue of sustainability is complex. It is not just about the environment. If we cannot get our healthcare system under control, we will have an unsustainable economy and everyone will suffer. The only way we are going to reduce healthcare costs is by changing our lifestyles. Eating right is an important component of being green, and simplistic analyses of the issues will not help us achieve the best solutions.

I was checking out the Savannah Eco forum at the local Craigslist the other day. I was thinking of letting the resident greens know about this site. What I didn't expect to see was a heated (no pun intended) debate going on between a number of rational folks and one vehement global warming naysayer. It would be almost be amusing, were the consequences not so dire, that there are still people out there who deny global warming is a verified phenomenon. I mean, even George Bush and the vast majority of the formerly naysaying republican party accepts this. Now, they may disagree whether humans are a major cause or how (or whether) to do something about it, but outright denial is pretty much off the table for any serious politician these days.

Yet, this person says we all need to look at the real facts and stop listening to scientists (and biased liberal media), as they are just paid shills for the agendas of some powerful people. S/he then directs us to a series of YouTube videos created by a marine biologist with no training in climatology who presents an argument that all evidence suggests we are actually moving into a mini ice age (yet presents no actual evidence to support this claim). So, the opinions of a non-expert who disseminates his position through online videos rather than peer-reviewed journals is an arbiter of truth, while the thousands of scientists worldwide who are in virtual unanimity on this subject have all been paid off as part of some dark leftwing conspiracy—every last one of them. And yet the actual indisputable evidence keeps mounting. A headline from Science Daily reads West Antarctic Glaciers Melting At 20 Times Former Rate, Rock Analysis Shows:

Boulders the size [of] footballs could help scientists predict the West Antarctic Ice Sheet's contribution to sea-level rise according to new research in Geology. Initial results show that Pine Island Glacier has 'thinned' by around 4 centimeters per year over the past 5,000 years, while Smith and Pope Glaciers thinned by just over 2 cm per year during the past 14,500 years. These rates are more than 20 times slower than recent changes: satellite, airborne and ground based observations made since the 1990s show that Pine Island Glacier has thinned by around 1.6 meters per year in recent years. The scientists reached their conclusions by investigating how long the boulders have been exposed to cosmic radiation rather than being shielded by ice or sediment.

I am admittedly not an expert in climatology, but the melting of glaciers and loss of snowpacks on higher elevations of many mountains just doesn't seem like the type of thing that happens when the planet gets colder. Needless to say, I decided not to invite the Craigslisters to visit this site. While most would probably be interested, I don't want to attract what are commonly called trolls in the blogosphere (defined as someone who intentionally posts derogatory or otherwise inflammatory messages about sensitive topics in an established online community such as an online discussion forum to bait users into responding). While I am a huge supporter of unbridled free speech, the purpose of this site is to bring together rational people to organize ourselves to take action. Trolls cannot be convinced of the error of their ways, so engaging with them is just a waste of our time.

Luckily, most people are far more reasonable (on all sides of the political spectrum). Consider SBC Resolution 5 (announced the other day by the very conservative Southern Baptist Convention or the Pope's recent proclamation on global warming. It is said that politics makes strange bedfellows. You may not not agree with the Pope's entire list of new sins, but there are potentially powerful allies to be found in organized religion. While religion has rarely led the way on social change, when the churches do finally get involved (e.g., to end slavery or promote civil rights or help the poor), things often change in a big way.