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A Texas Dairy Ranks Among the State’s Biggest Methane Emitters. But Don’t Ask the EPA or the State About It
(insideclimatenews.org)
this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2023
212 points (98.6% liked)
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Methane from cows and other natural processes is part of the normal carbon cycle and will not contribute significantly to long term global warning.
Specifically, all methane carbon from cows is going to come from the air. Methane has 20x co2s warning and over 100 years but degrades back into CO2 with a half life of 20 years.
Carbon from fossil fuels will be there forever and cause warming forever.
Focus on actual carbon emissions from oil and gas instead of being fooled by these distractions.
Taking normal things and then mass producing them isn't a part of the normal carbon cycle, especially when areas are deforested or changed to make it more accommodating to mass production.
I'd love to read anything to the contrary - it's not that I believe cow farts is a horseman of a climate apocalypse.
But I find the idea of deforesting, mass animal production, the food used to feed cows being controlled (potentially causes more gas) far more unnatural than some extra cows in a field.
It's easy to say something is "natural" when referring to an animal existing, but the existence of these cows barely dips a toe in the natural world.
So if there is any legitimate proof that the beef/dairy industry don't contribute anything beyond the natural carbon cycle I'd love to educate myself!
I don't disagree that the main cause of CO2 emissions is clearly oil and gas, and that should absolutely be the focus. But to insinuate everything else is absolutely fine to ignore and Oil and Gas is the only source that can be mitigated seems disingenuous - especially since oil and gas aren't going anywhere anytime soon.
To add on - the feed we give cattle exacerbates methane production in their gut.
So there is nothing “natural” about the excess methane produced by cattle because if they were naturally foraging the amount produced is lower.
Yeah, cows are adapted to eat grass, but that doesn't fatten them up. So we give them corn and whatnot instead. It's a generally unhealthy diet for them. As in, they are literally more prone to disease because a grain diet impacts their immune system.
When you offer a cow grass in one hand and grain in the other, they will always go for the grass.