According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 60% of the leading causes of global warming and greenhouse gasses are the result of enteric fermentation, what I like to refer to as ‘agricultural farts’. Most recently, the EPA sent an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking announcement of it’s intent to tax farmers for their cows’ emissions.
Let’s break it down:
An operation with more than 25 dairy cows, 50 beef cattle or 200 hogs emits more than 100 tons of carbon dioxide; Methane gases from cows and hogs oxidize into carbon dioxide therefore producing a potent greenhouse gas. Methane (CH4) is a greenhouse gas emitted from a variety of both human-related (anthropogenic) and natural sources. It remains in the atmosphere for approximately 9-15 years and is over 20 times more effective in trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide (CO2) over a 100-year period. Human-related activities include fossil fuel production, animal husbandry (enteric fermentation in livestock and manure management), rice cultivation, biomass burning and waste management.
Backing up the EPA on this proposed ruling is PETA, the non-profit organization of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals. I love PETA. I love animals and I believe in what this organization does. PETA spokesman, Matt Prescott, made recent statements on The Glenn Beck Show stating, “If humans all became vegans, we would quickly and greatly reduce the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. The UN Report has found that the meat industry produces more global warming emissions than all of the world’s transportation combined.” Additionally, he adds: “Just switching to a hybrid car is not even as effective as switching to a vegetarian diet”. All of this information hit me square between the eyes.
“Is it really that easy?” I asked myself.
Al Gore is not vegan or even a vegetarian. Isn’t it only natural for someone who endorses the fight against global warming to not contribute to the very thing that may be causing the problem? Maybe PETA is getting a little rambunctious on this particular issue. It is just as much their choice to be vegan or vegetarian as it is another's choice not to be. I spent the better part of a decade being nearly vegetarian until my body protested, “Hey! I need some more protein here, I’m getting anemic!”
I do not agree with or condone factory farming, I personally feel we should all be growing our own foods and farming our own meat but that’s not only for another article, it’s just never going to happen. On a side note, if we all become vegetarian, how will that eventually effect our emissions? According to Dr. James L. A. Roth, the author of “Gastrointestinal Gas”, two-thirds of adults pass gas that contain no Methane. But what about the other 1/3 that does? And, in “Facts on Farts” by Brenna Lorenz, human emissions are comprised mostly of Carbon Dioxide. Now if cow farts oxidize into Carbon Dioxide and we already emit Carbon Dioxide, then are we not contributing to global warming ourselves?
In 2001-2002, there were an estimated 2.5 Billion cows and pigs on the earth. Are there not more humans on this earth than cows and pigs? As of March 2009, the world's population is estimated to be about 6.80 billion. If the average human emits ½ liter of farts per day, that is a total of 335 lbs of gas per year, multiply that number by 6.8 billion and we humans are probably pumping out enough gas per year to fuel New York City and Las Vegas.
In another study, the leading cause of sphincter emissions are caused by the swallowing of air and vegetables such as cauliflower, corn, bell peppers, cabbage, milk, bread, eggs, beer and raisins. That looks like a vegetarian-based diet, doesn’t it? Now if we switch our daily diet to vegetarian, yes, we are knocking out the demand of meat from the farmers, which decreases the number of cows and pigs, which in turn, decreases the amount of enteric fermentation, which of course, decreases our greenhouse gases, thus decreasing global warming. But will we be making a difference in our atmosphere based on our diet change? So what is the solution? Hold it in and combust, or let it out and destroy the ozone? A reader states: “Invent Fart Farms that bean eaters can feed their methane through tubes to compression tanks. These tanks of methane can be sold on the market to fuel automobiles. Anyone who complies can be rewarded with Fart Credits”.
Perhaps the answer is moderation and the use of Beano.
Or perhaps, the answer is staring us in the face when we look in the mirror. People need to stop pointing the finger and picking global warming apart. The number one cause of the emissions is still landfills. Caused by whom? Us.
