Fight global warming, eat less beef

When we think of the major drivers of global warming, we think of burning gas in cars and burning coal, oil and natural gas for heating and electricity. But beef consumption is a significant driver of deforestation and methane production world-wide.

We mostly gave up beef when Rebecca was in law school and published a law review article about how bad beef is for the environment. If you crave red meat, bison is better for the environment than beef.

“Replacing just 20% of global beef consumption with a meat substitute within the next 30 years could halve deforestation and the carbon emissions associated with it, finds a modelling study.”

*snip*

Beef farming is a top driver of deforestation worldwide, and cattle raised for beef are a major source of methane, a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Replacing beef with meat alternatives could reduce some of the food production’s environmental footprint, but it won’t solve the climate crisis, says study lead author Florian Humpenöder, a sustainability scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. “It should not be seen as a silver bullet,” he says."

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01238-5