Cows Are (Part Of) The Problem

Kansas rancher sends letter to Ocasio-Cortez fact-checking the Green New Deal

Big surprise a cattle rancher wouldn't admit to methane being part of the problem.  [Just as oil companies don't admit fossil fuels pollute.]

Yes, they provide food.  But they also pollute.

As one article noted, "What remains undisputed is that animal husbandry does generate harmful emissions.  Firstly, the animals themselves release emissions — cows, for example, produce methane gas in the digestion process. In addition, the entire industry contributes to the greenhouse gas effect, from the fertilizer on the fields to the transport of feed for the animals and the use of milking machines."

Another article explains, "Livestock are responsible for about 14.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).  According to calculations by some experts, this puts the livestock sector on par with transport. The U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says transport is responsible for 14 percent of emissions.  Ruminants such as cattle, buffalo, sheep and goats produce nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide and methane, which is the most emitted gas and is released through belching."

As The New York Times put it, "The impact of agriculture, a category that includes everything from growing lettuce to raising livestock, is tricky to express because the gasses produced — mostly methane and nitrous oxide — have much more warming potential than carbon dioxide but also dissipate more quickly. According to the latest thinking, though, farming is responsible for the equivalent of 574 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States each year and 56 million metric tons in Canada.  That’s about 8 percent of each country’s total greenhouse gas emissions...Worldwide, livestock accounts for between 14.5 percent and 18 percent of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions."

NPR wrote, "Livestock is a major source of greenhouse gases worldwide. About quarter of the methane emissions due to human activity in the U.S. can be chalked up to gas released from these animals, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency."

Again, the Green New Deal isn't about getting rid of cows, planes and everything else we've come to know.  It's about recognizing the impact of our many different lifestyle choices and working to modify our behaviors so we make less of a negative influence on the planet.  It's really all about ensuring our own survival and the survival of the planet.

So, sorry ranchers, coal miners and fossil fuelers, we need to make some changes in the way we live. These aren't the first industries in the history of mankind that have had to adjust to environmental or other factors.  And, they won't be the last.  But to keep arguing against what the science is clearly telling us ... we're only hurting ourselves and the planet.

For Further Reading:
Methane isn’t just cow farts

Methane From Cattle Are 11% Higher Than Estimated