Meat Is Climatical Murder

Categories: uncategorized

Date: 07 September 2008 15:50:34

Rajendra Pachauri is the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and will be telling us, in a speech tomorrrow, to eat less meat in order to save the planet. He says that meat production is the biggest contributor to climate change - normally we're told that transport or energy production is.

Therefore we should all eat less meat and thus do our bit for the planet. After all, this is the only planet with chocolate - what would women do if we all had to move to Jupiter?

The declared figure of 18% includes greenhouse gases released in the entire production cycle - this incluudes clearing forests, the production of fertilisers, powering of farm vehicles and the emissions of the cattle and sheep themselves. According to the IPCC transport only accounts for 13% of emissions.

Too me this appears a little disingenious. Surely they should actually do this with other industries as well. You cannot take these in isolation to prove a point. There are far more polluting industries than agriculture. Neithr should you take other industries, such as chemicals and transport, and then iclude them to raise the figures.

Do you think that it is a coincidence that his speech will be made to Compassion in World Farming? Their main aim is to reduce the number of animals in factory farms and lowering meat consumption would, in their eyes, help with this. Wouldn't a change to a more organic alternative also help with this? Maybe by doing so they could help lower the costs of organic farming.

Therefore he is using a speech to a minority campaign to try to push a message of a larger danger. Surely he should be trying to find ways to reduce emissions by encouraging a move away from carbon uses and fuels to a sustainable alternative. If you take the emissions from the production of fertilisers then this would help if we use natural alternatives - we had done for thousands of years unti, the last 150 years.

Neither can you take transport out of the equation. We will always need to find ways to move goods around the world - the genie has been released from that bottle and won't be pushed back in now. Local production for local needs would be an answer but too many politicians would prevent that from happening now.

Like everything else with the climate change debate you need to take everything with a touch of reality and cinicism - the speeches are never as "free" and "straight forward" as they'd have you believe. Until we remove corporate, political and minority self interest from the debate then we won't solve anything.

History Today:

AD70: The Romans capture and sack Jerusalem, the Temple is also destroyed, bringing the majority of the Jewish revolt to an end - some zealots still hold out, notably in Masada.

1191: Richard I, the Lionheart, defeats Saladin at the Battle of Arsuf. This is saladin's first real defeat and ends his aura of invincibility.

1812: The French army, led by Napoleon, is defeated by the Russians at Borodino, 70 miles from the city.

1815: Marshal Michel Ney is executed for treason because of his aid to Napoleon at Waterloo.

1838: Grace Darling makes her famous rescue of the crew of the 'Forfarshire' which was shipwrecked off the Northumberland coast. No motorised lifeboats in those days.

1860: Guiseppe Garibaldi, the famous biscuit and Italian revolutionary, enters Naples during the War of Liberation against Austria - that's way they once had a navy, that helps solve the riddle of Captain von Trapp.

1901: The Peace of Peking is signed ending the Boxer Revolution which attempted to drive all foreigners out of China. Nice guys those "inscrutable" Chinese.

1940: Germany begins its systematic raids on British cities - The Blitz - as 900 bombers hit London. This is the beginning of their defeat as it buys time for the RAF to recover and re-equip.

1943: For the second World War in a row the Italians decide to change sides. They surrendered to the Allies today.

1973: Jackie Stewart becomes World Champion for the third consecutive year. Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill weren't that good. Maybe Lewis could be...

1977: The Americans agree to handover control of the Panama Canal in 2000 to the Panamanians.

1986: The first black archbishop is appointed as head of the Anglican Church in South Africa. Bishop Desmond Tutu was his name - you may have heard of him.

1994: The US flag is lowered in Berlin to signify the end of US presence in the city since 1945.