MAY 2019 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


Don’t blame the cows for global warming The anti-beef movement has its numbers wrong – eat local to fix the climate


I would like to straighten out some of the errors about beef production and climate change. First, let me state that I am


Viewpoint by Martin Nicoll


an environmentalist who lives completely off the grid with electricity from solar panels. However, I do have a grazing contract with a local rancher. (I am sure Frank Martens uses solar panels to run his irrigation pumps.)


The fundamental cause of climate change is that carbon that has been stored for millions of years is being released into the atmosphere. Let’s follow the carbon in raising beef: The plants pull CO2 out of the atmosphere, the cattle eat the plants and put out CO2 and methane (CH4). After 12 or so years, the methane converts back to CO2 and then back into the plants. Interesting. No stored carbon released. A closed loop.


The downfall of my


argument is that methane is a worse greenhouse gas than CO2. How much worse depends on how you manipulate the numbers. I have seen as low as 8 times and as high as 86 times. The most common trick of the anti-beef crowd is to use the value for a kilogram of


methane, CH4, as a kilogram of CO2. This automatically gives a much higher value since a kilogram of methane has way more molecules (and hence more carbon) than a kilogram of CO2 due to its lower molecular mass.


The moral of this example is to be very skeptical of any values or statistics quoted in articles, mine included. If it is a peer-reviewed, scientific journal, you only need to be slightly skeptical. Here is another example.


Canada is often made out to be a terrible polluter by using CO2 emissions per person. If we doubled our population with the same emissions, would the atmosphere be better off? Why not use emissions per square kilometre? Then, we would look terrific.


Both values are misleading. The best value would probably just be total tonnes emitted. So, if we get rid of all the


cattle, you would get a one time improvement in the amount of methane and then no difference. The real methane problem will be when the permafrost melts and rots. If you wish to criticize


agriculture, concentrate on the amount of fossil fuels that are consumed in producing feed or in transportation. If


you want to minimize your carbon footprint, eat local grass-fed beef. I would like to see a comparison of eating grass- fed beef from your neighbour versus vegetables trucked in from Mexico. (Mind you, with the current slaughter regulations, the government is trying to shut down small farms, maximize animal suffering and use as much fossil fuel as possible. Ironic, isn’t it, that the government will sell you cigarettes, alcohol and now pot, but says it is too dangerous to buy meat from your neighbour without trucking it off for some bureaucrat to look at. I digress.)


Another weakness in my closed-loop argument for carbon and cattle is that carbon is taken out of the loop and permanently stored in the bones of the animals. Perhaps ranchers deserve a carbon credit! (Now don’t get excited – that was a joke!) I’ve never seen any values


but I’m sure the amount is minimal. However, I bet you I could manipulate the numbers, post it on the Internet and get thousands to believe it, just like people believe methane is 86 times worse than CO2. Martin Nicoll doesn’t own a


computer and used Canada Post to mail his contribution to us from Pinatan Lake.


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