Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
4
THE CARBON FOOTPRINT
CONTROVERSY
What Is the Carbon Footprint Controversy?
Nearly all humans consume meat, dairy, and egg products in
some form. In recent years the environmental movement has
touted the necessity of reducing one's “carbon footprint.” Can
we reduce our footprint without changing our diet? Much con-
troversy surrounds that question. One very extreme view on
the political left is below.
But when it comes to bad for the environment, nothing—
literally—compares with eating meat. The business of
raising animals for food causes about 40 percent more
global warming than all cars, trucks, and planes com-
bined. If you care about the planet, it's actually better to
eat a salad in a Hummer than a cheeseburger in a Prius.
—Bill Maher, host of HBO talk show
Real Time with Bill
Maher
, writing in the Huffington Post in 2009, accessed
April 25, 2013, at
http://www.hufingtonpost.com/
The last decade has seen a movement advocating a vegan
diet in order to reduce carbon emissions, and in some respects
the argument is logical. After all, it takes about 3.388 pounds
of corn (and many other inputs) to produce a single pound of
