Agricultural News
Greenhouse Gas Guru, Mitloehner, Says Cow-Fart Protestors Spread More Manure than Beef Industry
Fri, 12 Jul 2019 14:17:57 CDT
Dr. Frank Mitloehner of the University of California-Davis, or the Greenhouse Gas Guru as he is known on Twitter, is a strong proponent of telling the story of sustainability for the beef cattle industry. He recently pushed back against Patrick Brown, founder of one of the more high profile plant-based burger patty manufacturer The Impossible Burger, during a recent interview on NPR.
"Obviously he has a beef with beef so to speak," Mitloehner quipped about his interaction with Brown. "He said beef is the most destructive technology in use on this planet today and obviously I didn't agree with that. But he was extremely aggressive in that regard. I see people like him and others depicting the beef industry as the worst environmental culprit in the world. I mean, it's getting ridiculous."
Mitloehner says those who want to denigrate beef in this country do not understand the success story the US beef industry has been putting together for years when it comes to sustainability and relatively low greenhouse gas emissions. According to him, the US beef industry only accounts for 3.3 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions generated domestically. In contrast, those industries that consume fossil fuels account for 80 percent of emissions, 28 percent of that contributed by the transportation industry alone. Mitloehner points out that the beef industry has and continues to study its environmental impact and has pledged to make continuous improvements toward greater sustainability in response to consumers' environmental concerns. Regrettably, the beef industry's proactive efforts to increase its sustainability have not been effectively communicated to consumers, allowing activists like Brown the opportunity to spread false or misleading information.
"Our 'special friends' are using global numbers that are always higher than national numbers. We are the leader in the world on the beef side. We are very advanced and it's high time for that information to get out because our 'special friends' are claiming the opposite is true," he said. "Our 'special friends' tell people if you want to improve the environment - stop eating meat - and that's just wrong and they know it. But, they do it anyway and consumers become confused."
Listen to today's Beef Buzz to learn how Dr. Mitloehner is using the facts about greenhouse gas emissions to change the public's misconceptions about the beef industry that are being promulgated by activists, with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays.
Background:
For more on this topic, listen to the latest Beltway Beef Podcast featuring Dr. Frank Mitloehner - click here.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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