Omnivore - Chicken: less gas, more climate-friendly

There was an interesting article Monday on Salon.com about vegetarianism and climate change. According to the article, in terms of preventing global warming, vegetarian diets are not always the best. Recently, the attention-loving folks at PETA lambasted Al Gore for his carnivorous ways outside an October lecture he gave on climate change. The group displayed a billboard featuring Gore with chicken drumstick in hand reading “Too Chicken to Become a Vegetarian?” followed by “Meat is the #1 Cause of Global Warming.”

Which is false. As the article states, “The No. 1 cause of global warming is burning fossil fuels for electric power. Still ... a November 2006 United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization report found that livestock accounts for 18 percent of global-warming emissions worldwide, more than the entire transportation sector.” Our diets are contributing to the warming of the planet in more ways than one, but as it turns out, eating chicken is an excellent choice for carnivores who care about the environment.

Livestock is a large cause of major environmental issues, the worst of which is global warming, mainly due to clearing forests to feed crops and pastures. The trees cut down will no longer take in carbon dioxide; instead they are burned, releasing more carbon dioxide.

(Photo by Eric L. Carlson)