Cutting down on billionaires would do a lot more for the environment
Billionaires like Joesley Batista?
Reducing meat/dairy consumption seems to be one of the easiest changes we can make to lower GHG output, since it doesn't require major infrastructure changes.
But it also means changing habits, which is hard for other reasons.
It's also going to be hard to convince the hardcore carnivores: just 12% of the population eat over half the beef in the US.
Are you saying if we eat the hardcore carnivores, the job is done, easy peasy?
Ewwww nonono, have you seen hardcore carnivores? Ew nopenopenope.
Apex predator mode in 3…2…
It's a lot harder to drop carbs out of my diet but I have to. I let any of them in my body and now I'm dying again woo! Yall can do what you want but I will find a source of animal products if I have to eat the local quails and their eggs. When you can't eat legumes or tubers or fruit or grains, you'd be better off starving to death if you can't even have a steak with your green beans. I just wish I weren't addicted to carbs. I need to get back on keto to get my body back again... 😩
I have to get on keto again and lose the 60 lbs I gained after I fell off the wagon, and stop feeling hungry all the time. Carbs are a fucking bitch.
I have Coeliac's and things with gluten are out for me unless I want a lot of misery for a couple of days (which sucks because I love bread). This cuts out a lot of things for me. I also typically do a very low-carb diet because, for whatever reason, it vastly improves my mood and how my body feels.
That said, I am moving to grow a lot more of my own food with plans to have my own chickens for eggs and eventually raising most of the meat my wife and I consume. The rest we plan on sourcing from local hunters (wild boar and overpopulated deer are big issues where we're moving) and farmers We also eat a lot of seafood, so probably less land-based meat than most already (definitely less than when I lived in the US).
Its easy yes.but livestock is only 6% of emissions..
So we decrease it from 13% of global to 10%? Not much of a dent in view of the 87% from fossil fuel use 🤷🏽♂️ but let's not mention that
"Globally, the largest share of humanity's CO2 emissions stems from burning fossil fuels, which made up about 87% of CO2 emissions over the past 20 years. Land-use emissions are responsible for the remaining 13%." https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-how-land-use-drives-co2-emissions-around-the-world/
Seriously. If everyone on earth stopped eating meat tomorrow, we would still be just as fucked as we are now.
And do we expect the meat industry to just disappear? They have lots of land and equipment that they will try to use in other ways. Maybe they'll even decide to drill for oil on their land.
Even if we could cut all fossil fuels, the animal industry would push us over the Paris goal. Changing what we eat is a option we all have but let's not mention that
I've been a vegan for 17 years and I can tell you one thing Americans don't give a shit. They well not eat less meat. They don't give a fuck that they are killing the planet and they sure as fuck don't want you to tell them that. I've traveled over seas quite a bit and I see people from other countries seem genuinely interested in veganism but Americans don't give a fuck and give even less of a fuck when you tell them you're a vegan.
I've got you even better. For the past 15 years I haven't used a car to commute, and man do vegans NOT like the fact that their aesthetic lifestyle choice is meaningless compared to reliance on fossil fuels. Other countries have policies that genuinely reduce car culture, but holy fuck as soon as you suggest not living in the suburbs, vegans are up in arms about how America is just too big for such a thing to be possible.
"Aesthetic life choice" my ass lol. I am fortunate enough to not have to rely on a car (don't even have a driver's license) but suggesting others can when public transport in the US is that bad is just silly. Veganism is something you can actually easily practise though that has a meaningful impact on both the environment as well as animal well-being. This is not about "aesthetics": it's about making life on earth easier for everyone - both humans as well as animals alike.
So I just do both???
Realistically, pushing veganism is simply a bad choice in America. Instead, we should be pushing a simple reduction in meat consumption. Just educate people and encourage them to REDUCE meat in their diet.
Take away the government subsidies that make our meat artificially cheap, doing that alone will naturally raise meat prices and lower the average person's meat intake.
Consider throwing a carbon tax on the types of meat with the greatest environmental impact, why not?
If we want to be more equitable we could only tax the "luxury" meats (like goose, veal, lamb, oysters, or expensive beef cuts that are usually only purchased by upper class people anyway).
There are a lot of ways to skin this cat (lol), and I think we've sufficiently demonstrated that most Americans are WAY too resistant to cutting all meat out of their diet.
I reduce my meat intake but I'm not going to act holier than though and pretend it has anything to do animals.
When you tell me you're vegan you're telling me that's your identity as a person and no one wants to listen to you after that. It has nothing to do with what veganism is.
@blindbunny @inasaba they're indeed driving global warming to the extreme with their cattle ranches and ignorance. They have a lack of education since primary school, most of them have no idea what evolution is, much less would they know what carbon emissions are!
ps. America is not a country but a Continent. It might be ok to call it like that within its limits, but we're in an international platform here, so please...
For real. The disinformation starts with pushing children to consume dairy in all kinds of products, raw as well as processed, and claiming that it's good for your health. It all goes downhill from there.
Where in America have you gone?
There are exceptions in liberal cities, but data shows that Americans consume a LOT more meat on average than most other countries.
Shooting for 0% even better.
If I cut my meat by 75% can I keep my dairy at only a 25% cut? I need cheese more than meat.
You can do anything you want, and any non-zero improvement is still an improvement. It's far better if everyone dropped their meat consumption by a third than a small number of people completely dropped it.
The perfect shouldn't be the enemy of the good.
Halving anything will reduce land-use emissions....
But this is something people can halve without lowering their standard of living, while simultaneously helping with weight control and general health.
"without lowering their standard of living, "
Clearly doesn't understand what a standard of living is.
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