Environmental Benefits or WTH Al Gore! How did you forget to mention these statistics?

A little segue into environmentalism:

I am in the midst of the last class I will need to get my certification in Plant Based Nutrition. I read a few facts today as I did some research for a paper I need to write about food production and environmental concerns. Let me share them with you:

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UN-FAO) attributes 18% of worldwide greenhouse gases to the production and consumption of livestock. This is a greater percentage of GHGs than those produced worldwide by all the cars, trucks, buses, trains, and planes combined.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=20772&Cr=global&Cr1=environment

How did Al Gore miss that one? 18%!!

Researchers H Scott Matthews & Christopher Weber at Carnegie Mellson estimate that eliminating meat from your diet one day a week would reduce greenhouse emissions by the equivalent of driving 1000 less miles per year.

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es702969f

This is fantastic news for those out in the suburbs and even more so for rural dwellers. Public transportation may not always be an option when you live in the country and need to drive 30 or more miles to work each day, but everyone is capable of going 1 day a week without meat. A nice salad in the summer or thick, hearty veggie and lentil soup in the winter. Good for you, good for the planet!

I know and agree that we should all do our part to cut down the driving, turn down the thermostat and generally be more aware of our impact on the planet. However, I now know that eating a whole foods, plant based diet is not only better for me, it gives me the best chance of having an impact on our planets health.