30 October 2009

37 Days - More Support for Going Veg as Climate Change Mitigation

Sir — well, now Lord — Nicholas Stern, of the-economics-of-climate-change fame, has said that people may have to go vegetarian to save the planet. Reports say that Stern is advocating a vegetarian diet because it is lower in carbon emissions.
“Meat is a wasteful use of water and creates a lot of greenhouse gases. It puts enormous pressure on the world’s resources. A vegetarian diet is better. I think it’s important that people think about what they are doing and that includes what they are eating.”
— Lord Stern
Farmed ruminant animals, including cattle and sheep, are thought to be responsible for up to a quarter of “man-made” methane emissions worldwide, the article says. [Me: Once you add in the emissions for trucking, processing, and all the lost carbon sinks when forests are cut down to grow feed for livestock, that number rises.] Stern explains that a successful deal at the Copenhagen climate talks in December would massively increase the cost of producing meat.

Stern says that eating meat could become as socially unacceptable as drinking and driving because of the impact it has on global warming. People’s concerns about climate change would lead to meat eating becoming unacceptable, he predicted.

The British really are leading the way in the fight to safeguard the future.

Here is a short, excellent overview of the climate change emergency and why going veg is a vital and urgent first step in mitigating the still-increasing global greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. (Note how many of the speakers are British.)



If you're in or near Washington, DC on Sunday, November 8, please attend this free climate change conference and vegan dinner: Humanity's Leap to the Golden Era. You must register ahead of time and can do so online at http://www.wadcconference.com/register.aspx.

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I would appreciate hearing your thoughts or questions on this post or anything else you've read here. What is your take on courage and compassion being an important part of the solution to the climate change emergency?