UN: Eat Less Meat To Curb Global Warming

Guardian :

People should have one meat-free day a week if they want to make a personal and effective sacrifice that would help tackle climate change, the world's leading authority on global warming has told The Observer

Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which last year earned a joint share of the Nobel Peace Prize, said that people should then go on to reduce their meat consumption even further.

Read the whole story: Guardian

Comments

[DanSmith]

This is the only true solution to global warming. I hope the world go vegan soon.

[Badbone]

No movement has ever gained power by promising to give their followers less. Asking people to give up *anything* is not just unneeded, it is self defeating.

[ashabot]

Conservation is not a "movement". We are not in a position to dicker with Nature and unless we surrender and learn to settle for less gracefully we will be forced to do so the hard way. Mother Nature does not need our permission to change the rules.

[jay1975]

I think the AGW crowd are trying to "jump the shark". Now it's time for a steak.

[UnbiasView]

The best commercial on TV is that one that rips on vegitarians with the smug guy saying I'm a meatatarian . . . it's a commitment.

[UnbiasView]

Ever wonder why people dismiss the global warming movement . . . just listen to the crap that comes out.

GW has become aligned with the same agenda environmentalists and PETA people have been pushing for years . . . they just have something to scare you no.

[MikeDu]

Noooooo.... You're being told here that raising livestock is energy intensive. Cutting back one meal in seven would mean about a 12% reduction in energy costs to feed you. This has nothing to do with vegetarianism, is just how the numbers work out. By the same token buying local farmstand apples instead of apples flown in from New Zealand would be a step in the right direction too. If a few small adjustments to your lifestyle were made perhaps you won't be compelled to make the BIG NASTY adjustments in the future. From what I've seen the bulk of Global Warming deniers are all about refusing to make any adjustments and practically nothing about the science.

[UnbiasView]

Yessssssssssss, telling people how to use energy, how to live and how to eat is getting old. Global Warming has become the vehicle to try and scare people into it when in reality, these are the same things the same people have been pushing for 50 years . . .

[javaman]

only grass fed meat for me, bought from the local farmers market. Granted the sellers still have to drive their beef to the market, but it's still a long cry from the factory farms that use huge amounts of fossil fuels.

[pmag88]

Poultry supposedly has the lowest negative impact on the enviornment next to being vegatarian, but I really don't like it that much and don't feel any better eating chicken or fish compared to meat. In the past three years I've cut the amount of meat I'm eating by half and I've lost 15 lbs and feel about the same in general.

[rwe]

Hey , how about using food for food and fuel for fuel ..... and now the solution for the scefi globalwarming crowe... Ban food trays at college campuses

[sandiegoconservative]

Why does it seem like the most health conscious nuts (those who are vegan, run 5+ miles per day, drink nothing but water, wear the fashoinable short running shorts, etc.) seem to be the ones who die first of cancer or some horrible disease?

My grandfather is 88, still drives, does his own shopping, hits the theatre once a week and still plays cards. He has eaten chickenfried steak and eggs 2-3 times a week for about 60 years and bacon or sausage once or twice a week as well. He has a nice piece of meat pretty much every night. And no health problems at all.

[sculptor]

Going a with puritan overreactions like this to global warming are going to result in a backlash of resentment that will result in much more harm than good in the long run. Taking sensible and rational (which doesn't mean lack luster or halfhearted) approaches to global warming will solve this problem a hundred times faster than snatching the meat off of peoples plates.

[gifu]

Puritanism? It is called common sense. Read "Collapse" by Jared Diamond or just consider that "finite"is not just a sharp sounding word.

[sculptor]

Flashback to the seventies... OPEC oil embargo and energy crisis... Did Carter get all our house insulated and get high efficency heaters installed?? Noooo, he said turn down the heat to 65 and wear sweaters. Now -- where did these silly puritanic measures get us?? No where!

This just what will happen if the response to global warming is a bunch of silly season puritanical comments like our "friend" from the UN made.

[ohiomark]

All this talk about meat is making me hungry. I think I'll fire up the grill, put some fresh charcoal in it and grill a few steaks.

I'll be increasing my carbon footprint and pissing off the vegans, the UN and the folks at PETA all at the same time.

Besides, if we all stop eating meat, what are all those cows going to do all day? Just stand around and pass gas and contribute to "cow made" global warming.

They must be stopped. Eat a steak and save the planet!!!!

[DanSmith]

It's quite simple to stop global warming.
In regards to live-stocks,
1. Stop mass producing
2. Stop killing
3. Stop consuming

Problem solve. =)

[NL207]

You forgot a couple of other minor details: Control the orbit of the earth about the sun and control the variablity of solar output.

[ohiomark]

I don't see global warming as a problem. I don't like shoveling snow in the winter and I would like to use my pool longer into the season.

Plus, longer growing seasons are better for crop yields.

Besides, what is the "ideal climate" for the earth and who decides it, the UN? Al Gore?

[fishsandwichesr2good]

Instead of "pissing off the vegans", may I suggest that you piss on them instead. They will like it because pee, after all, is a renewable resource.

[DatelessNerd]

This is ridiculous.

The root cause behind our global problems is human overpopulation, which continues to skyrocket.

Even if we eat less meat and use less fossil fuel, we're only forestalling the inevitable unless we stop reproducing at our current rate. As long as the population continues to grow, we'll have to convert more land to agricultural use, destroying natural habitat. We also become more reliant on pesticides, herbicides, and farming methods that increase the risk of spreading mass disease.

I act responsibly (use mass transit, drive as little as possible, rarely eat meat, etc.), but I get frustrated when people in leadership positions don't tell the public the truth about what's necessary to save our species from catastrophe.

[Quaoar]

Human overpopulation? The answer is simple. Replace our current meat industry with Soylent Green production.

[sculptor]

I agree, in addition note that the UN bureaucrat who made this point seems to be from India which is the most overpopulated large country and has a population density 10.8 times that of the US.

[fishsandwichesr2good]

You make a good point. I really hope you in particular don't reproduce.

[HempCanSaveUS]

If we grew HEMP in the US, we could feed cattle/pig­s/chickens and
most other creatures with Hemp-Seed. Very Nutritious and leaves the
soil in better condition than before, without toxic fertilizers. This would
reduce the need for toxic feeds.

Hemp Seed could replace Soy Beans & Corn for much of the world's
food supply. Wouldn't need the massive toxic fertilizers for those crops.

Did I mention Hemp is great fiber and a great animal feed additive?

[mouselion]

Also can be distilled into biofuel -- heat for still coming from methane produced by biomass, just as with cow-power (see below comment). . .

[jeffinrr]

As someone who is doesn't eat much meat, hemp seed is a great food supplement. I eat it on salads and oatmeal. It's high in complete protein, high in omega-3 fatty acids - like salmon, and in several minerals including iron.

[mouselion]

Something someone brought up at the local brewery pub (doesn't serve anything other than what they make) for a pint and a half was that methane can be utilized on-site for energy use if you have cows.

Cow Power farms are located all across Vermont. There are currently four farms online and producing electricity in Bridport, Richford, Sheldon and St. Albans. All the farms have well over 500 cows, and produce or are expected to produce between 1.2 and 3.5 million killowatt-hours of electricity a year.

http://www.cvps.com/cowpower/Our%20Farms.html

Hmmm....

[PDXTransplant]

I wouldn't miss meat since I can't afford it for one thing and I don't care for it that much. I do like the occassional piece of chicken or a well done hamburger here and there, but large pieces of meat like steaks, roast, and brisket do not taste good to me at all too - much blood involved.