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Busting myths about cows and climate change
One of the big arguments used by anti-meat activists to convince people to reduce their meat consumption is that livestock are major emitters of greenhouse gases (GHG) and, therefore, major contributors to climate change. According to those activists, less meat (and milk) consumed will mean fewer animals and a healthier planet.
Dr. Frank Mitloehner, professor and air quality specialist at the University of California-Davis, disagrees with that argument. For starters, he says, livestock’s GHG emissions—especially in the U.S.—are much lower than is usually reported. Another myth, Mitloehner says, is that larger livestock operations have a much bigger carbon footprint than smaller operations. In fact, he says, production intensity and emission intensity are inversely related.
Brownfield spoke with Mitloehner at the National Insititute for Animal Agriculture conference in Omaha.
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