For decades the primary way environmentalists concerned about manmade global warming have advocated to slow it has been to reduce human emissions of the “greenhouse gas” carbon dioxide (mainly from burning coal, oil, and natural gas for energy). Lately they have focused increasingly on contributions from two other “greenhouse gases,” primarily from agriculture—methane (CH4) from livestock flatulence, and nitrous oxide (N2O) from chemical fertilizers.Why? Because CH4’s forcing effect (the amount … [Read more...]
New Climate Summary: Meat, Livestock Have Little Climate Impact
American ranchers and U.S. meat consumption have virtually no impact on greenhouse gas emissions or climate, reports a compelling new climate summary. The new climate summary, “Climate at a Glance: Livestock and Methane,” documents that cattle and beef account for just 2% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. All livestock combined account for less than 4% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.Climate activists, many of whom are vegans for other reasons, often claim that ranchers, livestock, and meat … [Read more...]
Senate Votes Down Attempt to Repeal BLM’s Methane Rule
Today the U.S. Senate voted against H.J. Res. 36, a resolution, "providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the final rule of the Bureau of Land Management relating to "Waste Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation." Cornwall Alliance Founder and National Spokesman Dr. E. Calvin Beisner found the Senate's vote to be very disappointing. "The BLM has no authority to regulate for air quality, which is the EPA's … [Read more...]
Milk Prospects for Californians—Turning Sour?
It’s not enough that poor and low-income Californians already face some of the nation’s highest housing, electricity, gasoline, and tax costs. Soon, thanks to the ever-diligent California Air Resources Board (CARB), they’re likely to face higher prices for one of the most basic foodstuffs, especially for children: milk. That’s because CARB is targeting dairy cows’ flatulence as the next great front in its war against global warming. Because the methane in cow farts, though it stays in the air … [Read more...]
If Only EPA Would Tilt at Windmills!
EPA last August released a new rule requiring America's natural gas drilling industry to reduce methane emissions by 40% to 45% in ten years. EPA's own estimate at global warming to be prevented? An undetectable 0.002 degree Celsius. The Wall Street Journal rightly opined: The rule will ... do immediate harm to a drilling industry that is already under pressure from falling global energy prices. The shale gas revolution has created hundreds of thousands of jobs, reduced costs for U.S. … [Read more...]
Methane Monster—Not
Been hearing about the methane monster that's going to cook the planet? The Independent, Salon, Mother Jones, Alternet, Arctic News, and the Arctic Methane Emergency Group have all trumpeted it, and the methane message becomes the more dire as we approach Paris, with 5-alarm fires raging at TruthOut and Real News Network. Irreversible positive feedback loop: warming Arctic releases methane that warms the air that releases more methane that warms the air that releases more methane until we all … [Read more...]
