Silence of the lambs

I came across this article on the Wall Street Journal yesterday. Now, before you think that I am a regular reader of WSJ, a finance professional going to work in a suit, or I'm trying to show off, this was what got delivered to my room at the hotel where I'm now staying, instead of the usual International Herald Tribune. And since it is a 30 minute ride to work, I flipped through the pages and hence this post. But I digress. The article talks about research aimed at improving the social skills of sheep. No, really, this talks about scientists trying to reduce the levels of methane emitted by sheep. The concern being, methane is a greenhouse gas more potent than CO2 thereby accelerating global warming.

If this an issue with sheep, then by an extension, it must also be just as serious in the case of cows. Looking beyond the dairy industry, the meat industry is a worse offender. Expectedly, this issue is gaining awareness across the US, UK and other countries.

I'm sure that the researchers have the best interests of planet earth foremost on their minds when undertaking work on a topic as pleasant as the guts of sheep. But it surprises me that the best minds in this field are not recommeding a simpler solution that lies in what you eat, or rather, what you don't. Yes, vegetarianism has been proven to be more environmentally friendly than driving a Prius. The researchers can free up bandwidth to train their brains and research grants on other equally serious issues threatening our existence.

Jamais Cascio has an analysis that is as interesting as it is scary. "The greenhouse gas emissions arising every year from the production and consumption of cheeseburgers is roughly the amount emitted by 6.5 million to 19.6 million SUVs. " It is surprising then that the voices against SUVs seem to be more louder than the ones against a meat intensive diet.

At the risk of sounding preachy, a vegan way of life may be pushing the limits, or may be unavoidable in the future, but for now, vegetarianism is certainly a viable option. We may have arrived at a fork and must pick between driving down Dinosaur Drive or down Via Veggie. On a Prius, of course.