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Meat eaters, not gas guzzlers, to blame for global warming, speaker claims
by Mark Noack | Freelance reporter |
Adopting a vegetarian diet is better at preventing global warming than driving a fuel-efficient car, said San Jose State University sociology professor Dan Brook in a lecture Monday.
Speaking as a guest invited by Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Brook stressed that the practices of the international meat and dairy industry are the leading cause of greenhouse gases, which consequently result in global warming. He also cited a few sketchy statistics, the Emerald has found. To prevent these greenhouse gases, Brook said that individual consumers can make a huge difference where government and industry have not.
"Every time you buy something, you're saying 'I support this process; I vote for it,'" he said. "Every time you purchase a hamburger, you're saying 'I support the meat industry, I support global warming,'"
Quoting statistics taken from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, Brook said that about 30 percent of the world's surface is being used for components of the livestock industry, such as pasture land and crops for cattle feed. In actuality, the Emerald has discovered, 30 percent of the world's land surface - not total surface - is being used in livestock production. This huge geographic infrastructure based on meat and dairy products ultimately results in approximately 18 percent of the world's greenhouse gases.
Brook noted that oil-guzzling cars, trucks and other vehicles cause only 13.5 percent of the world's greenhouse gases. While cars produce tons of carbon dioxide daily, livestock produces large quantities of methane and nitrous oxide, he said, both of which are enormously more damaging than carbon dioxide in regard to global warming. Here the numbers got a little sketchy again. Methane, he said, is 300 times more damaging than carbon dioxide. This is false. According to the United Nations statistics he cited, Methane is only 10 times more damaging; nitrous oxide is the chemical compound that is 300 times more damaging.
Speaking as a guest invited by Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Brook stressed that the practices of the international meat and dairy industry are the leading cause of greenhouse gases, which consequently result in global warming. He also cited a few sketchy statistics, the Emerald has found. To prevent these greenhouse gases, Brook said that individual consumers can make a huge difference where government and industry have not.
"Every time you buy something, you're saying 'I support this process; I vote for it,'" he said. "Every time you purchase a hamburger, you're saying 'I support the meat industry, I support global warming,'"
Quoting statistics taken from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, Brook said that about 30 percent of the world's surface is being used for components of the livestock industry, such as pasture land and crops for cattle feed. In actuality, the Emerald has discovered, 30 percent of the world's land surface - not total surface - is being used in livestock production. This huge geographic infrastructure based on meat and dairy products ultimately results in approximately 18 percent of the world's greenhouse gases.
Brook noted that oil-guzzling cars, trucks and other vehicles cause only 13.5 percent of the world's greenhouse gases. While cars produce tons of carbon dioxide daily, livestock produces large quantities of methane and nitrous oxide, he said, both of which are enormously more damaging than carbon dioxide in regard to global warming. Here the numbers got a little sketchy again. Methane, he said, is 300 times more damaging than carbon dioxide. This is false. According to the United Nations statistics he cited, Methane is only 10 times more damaging; nitrous oxide is the chemical compound that is 300 times more damaging.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 3
Dan Brook
posted 4/18/07 @ 3:25 PM PST
I'm getting used to being misquoted, but it is odd for a journalist to get his facts confused and then "correct" the speaker regarding those mistakes. (Continued…)
Peggy Hakanson
posted 4/18/07 @ 7:54 PM PST
It's wonderful that the students at this school are taking on the issue of global warming. They couldn't get a better speaker, in my opinion, than Dan Brook. (Continued…)
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