U.S. $enate Hearing: ‘Big Beef’ has some thought$ about climate change and animal agriculture
The panel was dominated by livestock industry tie$, with no climate scientists. How agriculture can address its own contributions to climate change went largely unacknowledged.
E.A. CRUNDEN: ‘A U.S. Senate hearing reviewing the impact of climate change on agriculture featured a strong defense of industry, at a time when the role of the sector in contributing to global warming is under growing scrutiny. The morning panel indicated that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are growing more willing to engage with the connection between agriculture and climate change… The four-speaker panel, however, was dominated by industry ties, with an emphasis on livestock… No climate scientists spoke on the panel… How agriculture can address its own contributions to climate change… went largely unacknowledged…
Experts say a significant amount of research and data has established the relationship between agriculture and global warming. Around 8% of U.S. emissions come from farming, with some 42% of those emissions generated by animal agriculture. Much of that, in turn, is due directly to the animals themselves… But panelists on Tuesday veered away from those findings… Lawmakers and panelists alike touted technological advancements and innovation as a preferred approach to addressing emissions and other climate issues relating to agriculture…
Frank Mitloehner, a livestock expert and professor at University of California, Davis, also took aim at efforts to introduce “meatless Mondays” and other attempts to scale back U.S. meat consumption. Mitloehner slammed a 2016 report that emphasized the link between agriculture and climate change, arguing that “this myth is one of the chief reasons we are advised to eat less meat.” Other panelists similarly defended farming from scrutiny over climate impacts’. SOURCE…
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