Is it true or false that grass-fed cattle are such a burden on the Earth? Is it with the cattle industry as it is with the fossil fuel industry – that ‘denier propaganda’ is deliberately being spread to make everyone confused?
Welcome to a Sustainable Hour on 94.7 The Pulse – the 69th – about the carbon and the cattle, and about a young activist and ‘climatarian’ who has set out to change our food habits.
Listen to The Sustainable Hour no. 69:
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Guest in the studio:
• Mark Pershin, Less Meat Less Heat
Pre-recorded interviews:
• Kip Anderson, American director and co-producer of the movie ‘Cowspiracy’
• Philip Wollen, former vice-president of Citibank turned philanthropist and social justice advocate.
Both were speaking at the screening of the film in Geelong on 19 November 2014
Excerpts from the hour
“There is one single industry destroying the planet more than any other. But no one wants to talk about it…”
‘Cowspiracy – The Sustainability Secret’
‘Cowspiracy’ is a feature-length documentary that asks why big green groups are afraid to tackle the biggest single cause of global warming: the meat industry.
The Californian filmmakers Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn had the Geelong premiere of their film ‘Cowspiracy’ with a special invitation only screening on 19 November at the Courthouse Arts in Geelong.
In ‘Cowspiracy’ we follow an intrepid filmmaker as he uncovers the most destructive industry facing the planet today. He investigates why the world’s leading environmental organizations are too afraid to talk about it.
Director and co-producer of Cowspiracy, Kip Anderson from the US, who started his Australian tour at the Melbourne Premier the night prior to the Geelong event, and Philip Wollen, former vice-president of Citibank turned philanthropist and social justice advocate, spoke at the event in Geelong, and The Sustainable Hour interviewed them shortly after:
Kip Anderson
Philip Wollen
» Home page: www.cowspiracy.com
» Radio Ecoshock interview with Kip Andersen: www.soundcloud.com/radioecoshock
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Less Meat Less Heat
“Less Meat Less Heat is not proposing to ‘shut down cows’ but rather for people to consider the carbon footprint of the types and quantities of meat they choose to consume,” explained Mark Pershin in The Sustainable Hour on 22 April 2015.
“We differ on our theories of change, though. Politicians have largely failed to address climate change in a holistic and realistic way to date which is why I have decided to focus Less Meat Less Heat on the demand side of the equation, not the supply side. As for farmers affected by the reduction in demand I would like to set something up similar to the Earthworkers Cooperative to help them transition to either renewable energy production or production of lower carbon footprint types of meat and produce depending on what is suitable for the land they live on.
I think campaigns like Less Meat Less Heat must be created around the world to tackle this major side of the issue that hasn’t really been addressed by the global climate movement to any great degree. We need to look at the wicked problem of climate change from all sides of the issue, not just fossil fuels.
The domestic drop in consumption would be picked up by an increase in exports. However Less Meat Less Heat will have a global focus once we create a workable model that we can scale out to other countries. Also great points about the decay and under reporting of methane in the atmosphere by UN’s Climate Panel IPCC and hence all organisations around the world that use their information for decision making.
Less Meat Less Heat helps us choose our targets. Since CO2 remains in the atmosphere for hundreds of years at roughly the same global warming potential any measures to cut CO2 would not see benefits for hundreds of years. Conversely, CH4 (methane) only lasts in the atmosphere at it’s full global warming potential of 86x that of CO2 for only 12 years.
Therefore if we make major cuts in methane emissions (such as from livestock agriculture) we will see those benefits after only 12 years (all other things being equal). This is precisely the logic behind and focus of my new campaign, Less Meat Less Heat (for which we need funding and volunteers).
It is worth noting is that most of the livestock emissions are associated with extended range grasing of ruminants and even if Australia became 99% vegan (one can dream) I’m certain that 1% producing half our nations GHG emissions would be exporting all the live cattle and processed meats and dairy that they could. So behavioural change is not actually going to work on its own.
Addressing emissions from Land Use will required determined campaigning — possibly even more difficult than closing down fossil fuel plants. In Western Australia there is talk by Twiggy Forrester of quadrupling production of meat and dairy in short order with an eye to China.”
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Carbon footprint figures
You could try to compensate for your air travels by changing your daily life. To replace an incandescent bulb (40W) with an LED lamp (8W) saves on average atmosphere for ten kilograms of CO2 per year, which is roughly equivalent to what a air travelers emit in half a minute.
In order to ‘repay’ a return flight to Bangkok – 17.000 kilometres, emitting approximately 6 tonnes of CO2 per passenger – one must replace 600 bulbs per year. If you think this sounds cumbersome, you can also leave your refrigerator off for 60 years, because a refrigerator emits on average 100 grams of CO2 per year.
It is also a possibility to drop the meat. A British report from 2013 showed that an average citizen can save 1.7 kg of CO2 per day, if she goes from eating 50-99 grams of meat per day to eating zero.
A four-hour flight emits on average 850 kg CO2 per person, and it is equivalent to half a year of meatless days for an average person, before the CO2 balance goes to zero, while a trip to Thailand requires seven years of meatlessness.
Moreover, the best option is to cut the cow meat because it is 11 times more emitting than the meat of chickens.
Would you rather compensate by leaving the car and cycle to work instead, you would have to do this in one year to compensate for your two hours return flight (when having 15 kilometres to work).
Students could also take a more direct approach and plant trees instead of travelling by air. The effect depends on the type of tree, where the tree is planted, how old it is and how long it remains standing, but on average, a full-grown tree can take down around 40 kg of CO2 per year.
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Study: Going vegetarian can cut your food carbon footprint in half
If you’re looking for ways to reduce your carbon footprint, try eating less meat. That’s one upshot of a big recent study on diets in the United Kingdom.
The researchers found that vegetarians had roughly half the food-related carbon footprint of meat eaters. Vegans were lower still. But even if you don’t want to give up steak entirely, just eating less meat can shrink the footprint of your diet by one-third.
» Vox – 21 February 2015:
Study: Going vegetarian can cut your food carbon footprint in half
» See the report ‘Dietary greenhouse gas emissions of meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and vegans in the UK’ on: www.link.springer.com
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» Click on the cover to download article (PDF, 10 pages) from World Watch November/December 2009
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Farming overtakes deforestation and land use as a driver of climate change
“Greenhouse gas emissions from growing crops and raising livestock are now higher than from deforestation and land use change, a new study shows. While the emissions of the sector as a whole are dropping, emissions from agriculture are still on the rise, the research says. The news follows a recent global survey by Chatham House that identified a lack of awareness about the size of greenhouse gas emissions from meat and dairy production.”
Robert McSweeney, Carbon Brief
Eating less meat essential to curb climate change, says report
Global livestock industry produces more greenhouse gas emissions than transport but fear of a consumer backlash is preventing action, says Chatham House report
Curbing the world’s huge and increasing appetite for meat is essential to avoid devastating climate change, according to a new report. But governments and green campaigners are doing nothing to tackle the issue due to fears of a consumer backlash, warns the analysis from the thinktank Chatham House.
The global livestock industry produces more greenhouse gas emissions than all cars, planes, trains and ships combined, but a worldwide survey by Ipsos MORI in the report finds twice as many people think transport is the bigger contributor to global warming.
The recent landmark report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that dietary change can “substantially lower” emissions but there is no UN plan to achieve that.
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“When we talk about greenhouse gases we usually talk about carbon dioxide. When media reports depict climate change, we invariably see the cooling towers of a coal power station. Which is fair, because carbon dioxide, or CO2, is the big one: nearly 75% of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions are carbon dioxide. Most of those come from the energy sector and the combustion of fossil fuels. But there are other gases involved in the greenhouse story. Methane and nitrous oxide are also contributors to Australia’s greenhouse gas account. And both have a much greater impact on the atmosphere in terms of global warming than carbon dioxide.”
» The Conversation:
Meet N2O, the greenhouse gas 300 times worse than CO2
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“Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.”
Albert Einstein
Challenging climate change through diet
Vegetarians do not eat meat, fish, poultry and seafood. Vegans, in addition to being vegetarian, do not eat animal products such as eggs, dairy and honey. Many vegans also do not use other products derived from animals or animal by products such as fur, silk, wool, cosmetics and soaps.
People become vegetarians or vegans for health, environmental and/or ethical reasons. There are now a growing number of people who choose to reduce their meat intake, or become vegetarian or vegan, for climate health reasons.
Climate change is caused by an increase in Greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. The most prevalent ghgs are water vapor, ozone, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, with methane being the shortest-lived, but second most important of these.
Greenhouse gas levels have impacts on precipitation levels and temperature patterns. With the rise of greenhouse gas levels, the frequency of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, and severe storms are increasing. Sea levels are rising, threatening vulnerable coastlines around the world, and tropical diseases and pests that affect plants and animals are increasing their range.
Diet impacts on climate as meat based diets are in a large part responsible for the emissions of methane through the life cycle and supply chain of animals raised for food.
Ruminants such as cattle, sheep, goats, camel, and buffalo produce methane as a by-product of digesting plant material. Globally, ruminant livestock produce about 80 million metric tons of methane annually, accounting for about 28% of the global methane emissions from human-related activities. Livestock production systems can also emit other ghgs such as nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide.
Livestock raising is one of the main drivers of deforestation. Clearing of tropical forests and rain forests for the creation of new grazing land and farm land increases the rate of species extinction, has a devastating effect on biodiversity and is responsible for an extra 2.8 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emission per year.
With increased prosperity, people are consuming more meat and dairy products every year. Global meat production is projected to more than double by 2050, while milk output is also set to increase considerably.
Livestock now use 30 percent of the earth’s entire land surface, mostly permanent pasture but also including 33 percent of the global arable land used to produce feed for livestock.
Livestock water consumption, including water used in producing feed, places great stress on the already-limited supply of water resources.
Replacing livestock with other food sources would greatly reduce greenhouse emissions and therefore the rate at which the climate is warming.
Replacement of live stock for mitigation of climate change needs to go alongside other actions such as cessation of deforestation through logging for commercial reasons, replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy, population control and an overall reduction in consumption of our natural resources.
Wild Matters – Monique Decortis
References:
» www.epa.gov
» www.csiro.au
» www.timeforchange.org
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Vegan facts and figures
Mind-blowing information about eating meat that just might change the way you eat.
www.yearsoflivingdangerously.com
Climate change mitigation’s best-kept secret
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas — but there’s a lot we can do about it.
Reducitarianism
Reducitarianism is the practice of reducing one’s personal consumption of meat: red meat, seafood, and poultry.
» Read more on www.reducetarian.com
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Rap game to veganism
The rapper Lil B’s latest venture, VegEMOJI, is an emoji app that puts a green spin on Lil B sayings like, “Plant Based 4 Life,” and “Cool People are Kind to Animals.” The app also directs (US) buyers to local carriers of Follow Your Heart products.
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Food and water
With California’s drought worsening, there has been a growing focus on the amount of water needed to produce certain foods.
Food and waste
» Report about the global cost of food waste and its impact on global warming: www.static.newclimateeconomy.report (PDF)
Strawberries poisoned
About 70 per cent of Australian strawberries are being grown on runners that have been fumigated with an environmentally damaging pesticide that has been banned around the world.
Methyl bromide is an odourless and colourless gas which was banned under the United Nations Montreal Protocol in 1989 because it depletes the ozone layer.
Australia agreed to phase it out by 2005 but a decade later, nine strawberry runner growers at Toolangi, in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, are still using nearly 30 tonnes a year.
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Sign the petition to Woolworths:
Stop selling strawberries grown with methyl bromide
“Woolworths, you can be a leader in food safety and responsible farming. Stop selling strawberries grown with methyl bromide.”
Nearly three-quarters of Australia’s strawberry crops are grown with methyl bromide. This pesticide is so toxic it was banned decades ago by the UN’s Montreal Protocol, which aims to phase out ozone layer-depleting chemicals.
Continuing to use methyl bromide in strawberry crops could have devastating consequences for the ozone layer, farm workers and anyone else exposed to fumes from the pesticide.
Still Australia’s biggest strawberry-growers are committed to using methyl bromide – so much so that we were threatened with legal action by a strawberry farmer just for sending this petition!
The key to stopping this toxic chemical is convincing large supermarkets like Woolworths to stop stocking strawberries grown with methyl bromide. This pressure will hit farmers where it matters – their bottom lines – and force them to abandon the use of the fumigant for good.
Methyl bromide is an acutely toxic chemical used to fumigate the soil of strawberry crops. It is injected into soil and quickly rises to the surface, depleting the ozone-layer and contaminating the air around it. If inhaled for long periods of time, it can have devastating health effects on humans. And most protective clothing does nothing to stop it.
Australia agreed to phase out methyl bromide in 2005, but the largest strawberry producer in the country is still using a whopping 30 tonnes of it on crops every year. In contrast, the rest of the world has phased out 85% of the chemical, hailed by the UN as a “win for humankind.”
It’s simple. If stores take a stand and refuse to sell food grown with methyl bromide, growers will stop using it.
We know this will work from experience. Just this week, SumOfUs members convinced North American garden retailer Lowe’s to stop stocking toxic chemicals that are killing bees and endangering our entire food supply. Now, we have a chance to show large strawberry farmers that we are dead serious about them following international law and stopping the use of methyl bromide for good!
Woolworths, protect your customers. Stop selling strawberries grown with banned pesticides!
Ask Woolworths to ban produce grown with the toxic methyl bromide
» You can sign the petition here: www.action.sumofus.org
Pesticides in fruit could damage sperm
Among the men in the study, who were all attending a fertility clinic, those who ate lots of fruits and vegetables known to contain high levels of pesticides had about half as many sperm, and almost a third fewer normal sperm, than men who consumed less of the toxin-laden produce.
If confirmed in a wider population, the findings could have important implications for male reproductive health, the researchers said in their study, published today (March 30) in the journal Human Reproduction.
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More information
About the the topics we talked about in this Sustainable Hour
“Stolen Land, Stolen Culture, Stolen Climate”
Protesters gatecrash exhibition launch over ‘stolen culture’ and BP sponsorship
The morning of the official media launch of the British Museum’s new BP-sponsored exhibition, ‘Indigenous Australia: Enduring Civilisation’, was interrupted by an unexpected theatrical protest. A group of “actorvists” from BP or not BP?, dressed as robbers in striped T-shirts and eyemasks, temporarily blocked the exhibition entrance with a banner reading “Stolen Land, Stolen Culture, Stolen Climate” and read out quotes from Aboriginal leaders and activists, in front of a crowd of journalists waiting to get in.
The protest highlighted concerns that the British legacy of taking Aboriginal land, objects and resources without permission continues today and is perpetuated by elements of the exhibition and by its sponsor, BP.
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“This report proves once again that going 100% is good for the economy. Technologies like wind and solar can not only save money in energy bills, but also make a good investment. Going 100% renewable just makes good business sense.”
Emily Farnworth, Campaign Director of RE100 at The Climate Group
Go 100% renewable, create three million new jobs and save $520 billion a year
Adopting targets to go 100% renewable could save the world’s biggest economies a combined US$520 billion each year and generate a combined total of three million new jobs, according to a new report from the New Climate Institute and Climate Action Network.
As well as sidestepping the high costs associated with imported fossil fuels by shifting to 100% renewable energy by the year 2050, these economies will also avoid the “severe, widespread, and irreversible impacts” the International Panel on Climate Change forecasts will happen if we increase global warming 2°Celsius degree above preindustrial levels.
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Australia could source 100% of power from renewables by 2050, report finds
A new report sets out what governments need to do. It says all Australia’s energy needs could come from renewables by 2050, without massive costs or depressing economic growth.
A WWF report produced in collaboration with the Australian National University argues Australia could source 100% of its power from renewables by 2050 – without incurring massive adjustment costs or depressing economic growth – if there were clear and stable national policy settings to support investment in renewables.
The city of Vancouver is an example of a big city that recently committed to run 100% on renewables for power, heating and transportation within 20 years. New studies have also been released recently showing the US can get to 100% renewables by 2050 at marginal extra cost.
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French government study:
95% renewable power mix cheaper than nuclear and gas
A new French government study shows that the cost to the French consumer of a 100% renewable scenario is more or less equal to a scenario close to today’s, with only 40% renewables.
It is yet another instance of leading energy experts asserting that a 100% renewable future is possible, writes Terje Osmundsen, Senior Vice-President of Norwegian independent solar power producer Scatec Solar.
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“Victoria’s old and polluting power stations are continuing to operate well past their use-by date. They’ve got every incentive to hold on because they’re cheap to run, but they’re not paying for any of the pollution or damage they create.”
Dr Nicholas Aberle, Environment Victoria’s Safe Climate Campaign Manager
Brown coal imposes $800m health cost annually on Victorians
Researchers from Harvard University have produced analysis suggesting that the pollution from Victoria’s brown coal power stations are imposing annual health costs of $831 million, on top of significant levels of greenhouse gases that drive global warming.
The report by Jordan Ward and Mick Power of the Kennedy School of Government attributes health costs on the basis of local air pollutants emitted by the power stations, specifically SO2, NOx, and small particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) and a methodology they claim is based on work from the US National Academy of Sciences. Climate change costs are based upon the values for the social damage caused by CO2 estimated by the US Government for use in their cost benefit analyses.
The table below details their estimates of these social costs by power station. The ultimate effect according to the authors is to substantially increase the effective marginal cost of power generation from these power stations. For example in relation to Hazelwood they state the social damage of its output is about $75 per megawatt-hour, many times the cost borne by the operator in running the power plant, writes By Tristan Edis in Business Spectator.
» Continue reading on www.businessspectator.com.au
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Podcasts and posts about climate change
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“Participation – that’s what’s gonna save the human race.”
Pete Seeger, American singer