Monday, November 30, 2015

Global Warming and a Better World

Written for a climate change rally:

Make a Better World for Today and the Future!

When talking about a complicated, far-ranging issue like global warming and climate change, it is often useful to step back and review the bottom line – what really matters.

None of us care about greenhouse gas emissions in and of themselves. What matters are the consequences of global warming and climate change. Floods, droughts, famine, habitat loss, spread of disease – the bottom line is that more carbon in the atmosphere will cause more suffering. And that is the reason to do our utmost to lower carbon emissions.

Fortunately, there is an incredibly powerful way we can each massively lower our carbon footprint – and thus reduce future suffering – while also having a significant and immediate impact on the amount of suffering in the world today!

What is this powerful and profound action? Taking chickens, pigs, turkeys, and cows off our plates, and replacing them with some of the amazing new plant-based foods out there!

Not only does changing our diet have a huge influence on our carbon footprint, it has powerful impacts in the short term.


Even if we don’t consciously admit it, most of us know that factory farms are brutal. Every week a new investigation reveals just how barbaric the modern meat industry is.

And although many have stopped eating some animals, we often don’t give consideration to chickens. But we really should. John Webster, professor of Veterinary Science, has noted that industrial chicken production is, “in both magnitude and severity, the single most severe, systematic example of man’s inhumanity to another sentient animal.”

Of course, this inhumanity alone is reason enough to boycott the meat industry. But the long-term impacts of our dietary choices are also profound. Feeding the world’s grain to animals, and then killing and eating part of the animal, is not only inefficient, but also a leading driver of environmental degradation. The United Nations notes that raising animals for food is “one of the major causes of the world’s most pressing environmental problems, including global warming, land degradation, air and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity.”

Globally, meat production accounts for more greenhouse gas emissions than every single plane, train, and automobile in the world! The international affairs think tank Chatham House summarizes: “We cannot avoid dangerous climate change unless [meat] consumption trends change."

This is not something we have to wait for. We don’t have to win an election. We don’t need the government to act. We don’t need to negotiate a treaty. We can each make the world a far better place, today and in the future, by taking our animal friends off our plates!


2 comments:

Christine said...

Yes, we should definitely give chickens more consideration, Matt!

Birds make up the majority of farmed animals slaughtered for food in the US, but they are offered the least amount of coverage under the law. Even the Humane Slaughter Act, the federal law that requires that livestock be rendered unconscious before slaughter, excludes chickens and other birds.

Also, many people don't realize that one of the biggest environmental issues, the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, is due in large part to clear cutting for grazing and/or to grow feed crops for cattle only.

Factory farming is also a huge contributor to growing antibiotic resistance. The last figure I heard is that 70% of the antibiotics produced in the U.S. are routinely given to factory farmed animals, simply because they wouldn't survive the horrific conditions otherwise.

Stopping or reducing the consumption of animal products is just as much about human survival as it is survival for the animals.

Mikael said...

"We don’t have to win an election. We don’t need the government to act. We don’t need to negotiate a treaty. We can each make the world a far better place, today and in the future, by taking our animal friends off our plates!"

YES!!!