Anemia for everyone? Yes, most of the populace can reduce their
consumption of animal protein. But many can't do without it.
Of course the energy companies will jump on this bandwagon so they can
control the patents and restrict the use of "veggie" fuels. Instead why
not get big trucks off the highways (we're moving back to rail anyway as
many truckers go out of business). Then people will feel more safe in
smaller cars (like a big honkin' SUV is going to save your ass in a
collision with a Mac truck).
A better idea is to get rid of corporatism for as long as you have that
you'll never get any progress.
merlin wrote:
> Go veggie, cut fossil fuels to aid planet: study
> by Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent
>
> ReutersTranslate This Article
> 2 June 2010
>
> OSLO (Reuters) - An overhaul of world farming and more vegetarianism should
> be top priorities to protect the environment, along with curbs on fossil fuel
> use, a U.N.-backed study said on Wednesday.
>
> The report said food production and fossil fuel use caused pollution,
> greenhouse gases, diseases and forest destruction.
>
> 'How the world is fed and fueled will in large part define development in the
> 21st century,' said the 112-page report by the International Panel for
> Sustainable Resource Management.
>
> 'Agricultural production accounts for a staggering 70 percent of the global
> freshwater consumption, 38 percent of the total land use and 14 percent of
> the world's greenhouse gas emissions,' said Achim Steiner, head of the U.N.
> Environment Programme.
>
> The report said consumers could help by cutting down on meat consumption and
> use of fossil fuels in heating or travel. 'Animal products are important
> because more than half of the world's crops are used to feed animals, not
> people,' it said.
>
> 'A substantial reduction of impacts would only be possible with a substantial
> worldwide diet change, away from animal products.'
>
> Researchers said it was no surprise fossil fuels were a top concern.
>
> 'More surprising was food production—agriculture, fishing and pasture,' Edgar
> Hertwich, lead author at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology,
> told Reuters.
>
> Reform 'will be a titanic task, but one that is essential for our future
> prosperity and quality of life,' Janez Potocnik, European Environment
> Commissioner, said in a statement.
>
> Increasing wealth in developing nations could mean more damage, such as more
> demand for meat.
>
> 'Meat consumption per capita in China rose by 42 percent over eight years
> from 1995 to 2003,' said Sangwon Suh of the University of California, Santa
> Barbara.
>
> The study also said that the world should focus on improving use of materials
> such as plastics, iron, steel and aluminum.
>
> Janet Salem of UNEP said the report should remind people in urban areas that
> clearance of distant forests—making way for farmland and destroying habitats
> of animals and plants—could be traced to their choice of food in
> supermarkets.
>
> 'Faraway environmental impacts are related to people in cities,' she said.
>
> (Editing by Andrew Roche)
>
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>
>
>
>
