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Solutions to Everything, Pt. 3: meatless Friday
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That sound out there? That's change, people. And maybe you're not the first African-American President or anything, but you can still do something to save the world.
Like give up meat for one day, believe it or not. Now, I'm a carnivore. When everyone was going through that fashionable vegan phase in college, I lasted all of one day. I like steak. My family used to raise and slaughter a cow every year and divvy up the parts. In fact, I am defrosting ribeyes on my kitchen counter as we speak. Not sure I'm even going to eat them -- I just like having them around. As Patton Oswalt says, every time you eat a steak, a hippie loses his hacky-sack.
But even I can go tofu-riffic for one day a week, if it will help keep us all from being swamped by melting polar ice caps:
Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which last year earned a joint share of the Nobel Peace Prize, said that people should then go on to reduce their meat consumption even further...
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation has estimated that meat production accounts for nearly a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions. These are generated during the production of animal feeds, for example, while ruminants, particularly cows, emit methane, which is 23 times more effective as a global warming agent than carbon dioxide. The agency has also warned that meat consumption is set to double by the middle of the century.
'In terms of immediacy of action and the feasibility of bringing about reductions in a short period of time, it clearly is the most attractive opportunity,' said Pachauri. 'Give up meat for one day [a week] initially, and decrease it from there,' said the Indian economist, who is a vegetarian.
So, give up the burgers for one day a week. See how it goes. You'll probably survive. And you get a free pass for driving your Hummer that day.
(Found via Harry Shearer's le Show. Thanks, Harry!)
For more info: International Panel on Climate Change, meatless recipes
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