Back to that climate debate, two people sit down to argue.
Alex: “You carnivores are ruining the planet. Do you realize how much methane a cow produces?”
Zander: “Don’t care.”
Alex: “But if we changed our diets to include less meat, we would help change climate and probably even reduce poverty and starvation.”
Zander: “How so?”
Alex: “Scientists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research…”
Zander: “Climate impact research? Here we go. I’m going to preempt here. People who live in the American Southwest have a climate that is often hot and dry, especially on the leeside of the mountains. People who live along the Gulf Coast have a climate that is often warm and moist. People who live in the interior of continents in mid-latitudes have drier air than those living in the equatorial continental interiors. Who needs to study that? It is what it is. Climates affect life. They impact it. Non-human terrestrial life is where it is because of climate controls, climate impacts. Humans have chosen to go into places where climate imposes harshness. Do the Inuit have to live in the Far North? Do the Bushmen have to live in the Namib? Do Americans have to live in Tornado Alley, the Gulf Coast, the Atlantic Seaboard, all places where storms can do millions to billions of dollars in damage potentially every year? Give me a break, climate impact research.”
Alex: “Typical carnivore response. Typical reductionism. We’re talking about the impact of climate change.”
Zander: “Enlighten me.”
Alex: “As I was saying the Potsdam scientists and the German Development Institute scientists collaborated on a study to determine how the world can reach the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the SDGs, agreed upon by signers of the Paris Agreement in 2015. One of their representatives, Isabelle Weindl, says that changing our dietary habits by consuming less animal protein would achieve the ‘Planetary Health’ diet. * She argues that food production would then require less land and produce fewer greenhouse gases.”
Zander: “Really? I suppose she has run the numbers. But let’s take this to the end. So, I guess that cows wandering over the landscape munching on grasses do take up lots of land. And they consume the plants so that we get the nutrition by eating the eaters, one step more removed from chewing on sunlight. But don’t we have to consume lots of veggies and grains to make up for the concentrated proteins in the animals? Wouldn’t that entail using up more arable land and by changing the native species, making the albedo different? And what about the nutrients the plants need to grow? Are we going to throw more phosphates onto the land so that they can wash into streams and lakes and oceans?"
Alex: “You’re just seeing what you want to see so you can continue your meat-eating. And yet you know that eating too much red meat has bad consequences, heart attacks, cancer, and maybe even dementia. Maybe that’s why you can’t see my side of the argument. You’re already on the path to mental debilitation. Besides, you’re probably unaware that there’s such a thing as a ‘Planetary Health’ diet that allows, as Weindl says, ‘modest amounts of animal-source food.’ You just can’t have a diet heavy in meat or dairy. Weindl’s group wants everyone to couple carbon policies with sustainable diets that reduce energy demand.”
Zander: “Carbon policies? Let me guess. You want to tax my carbon footprint.”
Alex: “That’s part of the plan.”
Zander: “Okay. But who taxes the taxers?”
Alex: “What?”
Zander: “Every time I hear this carbon tax argument, I hear it from the rich and famous, the ones who can afford to fly around in private jets, drive expensive cars, have save-the-planet parties that put to shame anything the Great Gatsby could throw, and hypocritically eat whatever they want as long as it’s accompanied by some ‘sustainable organic food,’ prepared, by the way, under the supervision of a chef flown in for the occasion. Give me a break. As soon as you save-the-planet, preserve-the-climate people are out of sight, you go on doing what you preach the rest of us shouldn’t do.”
Alex: “That’s no argument against changing world habits. That’s just an indictment of hypocritical individuals.”
Zander: “You’re right. My argument isn’t germane to your point, but it isn’t far off the periphery of what you are saying. But my argument has its basis in human nature. Given the chance to have a fine wine and Wagyu beef or some tofu beef substitute, which do you think most people would choose? Which do the very rich choose? It’s the problem every society faces: Give someone authority, and you give someone a mentality of superiority, of being above the law. You see it in politicians all the time. You think that turning over your wealth via carbon taxes is going to engender that climate utopia you seek. In reality, you’re going to fund more corruption and make a segment of humanity richer with a more luxurious lifestyle that they will enjoy while you eat tofu and corn.
“And as for those farms that will replace grasslands used to feed the cows, will they have to be extended into the rainforests and the rest of the temperate forests? Who will control—since there’s little evidence that anyone has to this point controlled effectively—the slash-and-burn practice that changes the amount of carbon thrown into the atmosphere and that alters soils both in nutrients and albedo?”
Alex: “We’ll establish policies.”
Zander: “Who is the ‘we’ you seem to trust so unconditionally?”
Alex: “That’s why we need to follow the advice of people like those who did the recent study.”
Zander: “Wait a minute. Let me pull this up. Is this it?”
Alex: “Yes, ‘A sustainable development pathway for climate action within the UN 2030 Agenda.’ That’s the report.”
Zander: “Okay. Here’s what Elmar Kriegler, the co-author of the study says, ‘Our analysis presents a possible pathway towards a more sustainable future and shows that human well-being can be reconciled with planetary integrity. It is up to policymakers and society at large to turn this vision into tangible action.’ Pay attention, Alex, to that second sentence. Policymakers. Those are the very hypocritical I’m-better-than-you people we’ve had to contend with since people first entrusted others to govern them. Those are the same people who are known for the do-as-I-say-and-not-as-I-do governing that infuriates so many and makes individuals act like individuals with self-interest. You ascribe to them wisdom and integrity. Oh! Reminds me. What in the world is ‘climate integrity’? Is climate integrity the Little Ice Age or the Medieval Warm Period? Is it the two-century long droughts that have hit the American Southwest during the past couple of millennia? And ‘tangible action? Does Kriegler mean ‘effective action’?
“Just a side thought here, but do you trust the people who directed others during the 2020-21 pandemic to make wise decisions regarding your lifestyle? Let’s say they ban meat. Is that good? Aren’t we on the verge of a few controlling the masses? Isn’t this just going to result in more failed socialist policies? Look at this statement by a participant in the study: ‘Another intervention area includes global equity and poverty alleviation in the form of international climate finance and a pro-poor redistribution of carbon pricing revenues.’ ** Every time I read this stuff, I see the makings of wealth redistribution, and every time I see someone put it into action, I see the poor made poorer and the oligarchs made richer.”
Alex: “You just don’t have faith in humanity.”
Zander: “I can only say that my faith in humanity is under constant test. I’m going out for a burger. Care to join me? Look, as a concession, I’ll order a plant-based burger, though I don’t know what chemicals they add to make beans taste like meat.”
Notes:
*Soergel, Bjoern, et al. 2 August 2021. A sustainable development pathway for climate change action within the UN 2030 Agenda. Nature Climate Change 11, 656-664. (2021). Online at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01098-3 Accessed August 3, 2021.
**Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. 2 August 2021. New pathway to mitigate climate change and boost progress on UN Sustainable Development Goals. Phys.org. Online at https://phys.org/news/2021-08-pathway-mitigate-climate-boost-sustainable.html Accessed August 3, 2021.
Alex: “You carnivores are ruining the planet. Do you realize how much methane a cow produces?”
Zander: “Don’t care.”
Alex: “But if we changed our diets to include less meat, we would help change climate and probably even reduce poverty and starvation.”
Zander: “How so?”
Alex: “Scientists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research…”
Zander: “Climate impact research? Here we go. I’m going to preempt here. People who live in the American Southwest have a climate that is often hot and dry, especially on the leeside of the mountains. People who live along the Gulf Coast have a climate that is often warm and moist. People who live in the interior of continents in mid-latitudes have drier air than those living in the equatorial continental interiors. Who needs to study that? It is what it is. Climates affect life. They impact it. Non-human terrestrial life is where it is because of climate controls, climate impacts. Humans have chosen to go into places where climate imposes harshness. Do the Inuit have to live in the Far North? Do the Bushmen have to live in the Namib? Do Americans have to live in Tornado Alley, the Gulf Coast, the Atlantic Seaboard, all places where storms can do millions to billions of dollars in damage potentially every year? Give me a break, climate impact research.”
Alex: “Typical carnivore response. Typical reductionism. We’re talking about the impact of climate change.”
Zander: “Enlighten me.”
Alex: “As I was saying the Potsdam scientists and the German Development Institute scientists collaborated on a study to determine how the world can reach the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the SDGs, agreed upon by signers of the Paris Agreement in 2015. One of their representatives, Isabelle Weindl, says that changing our dietary habits by consuming less animal protein would achieve the ‘Planetary Health’ diet. * She argues that food production would then require less land and produce fewer greenhouse gases.”
Zander: “Really? I suppose she has run the numbers. But let’s take this to the end. So, I guess that cows wandering over the landscape munching on grasses do take up lots of land. And they consume the plants so that we get the nutrition by eating the eaters, one step more removed from chewing on sunlight. But don’t we have to consume lots of veggies and grains to make up for the concentrated proteins in the animals? Wouldn’t that entail using up more arable land and by changing the native species, making the albedo different? And what about the nutrients the plants need to grow? Are we going to throw more phosphates onto the land so that they can wash into streams and lakes and oceans?"
Alex: “You’re just seeing what you want to see so you can continue your meat-eating. And yet you know that eating too much red meat has bad consequences, heart attacks, cancer, and maybe even dementia. Maybe that’s why you can’t see my side of the argument. You’re already on the path to mental debilitation. Besides, you’re probably unaware that there’s such a thing as a ‘Planetary Health’ diet that allows, as Weindl says, ‘modest amounts of animal-source food.’ You just can’t have a diet heavy in meat or dairy. Weindl’s group wants everyone to couple carbon policies with sustainable diets that reduce energy demand.”
Zander: “Carbon policies? Let me guess. You want to tax my carbon footprint.”
Alex: “That’s part of the plan.”
Zander: “Okay. But who taxes the taxers?”
Alex: “What?”
Zander: “Every time I hear this carbon tax argument, I hear it from the rich and famous, the ones who can afford to fly around in private jets, drive expensive cars, have save-the-planet parties that put to shame anything the Great Gatsby could throw, and hypocritically eat whatever they want as long as it’s accompanied by some ‘sustainable organic food,’ prepared, by the way, under the supervision of a chef flown in for the occasion. Give me a break. As soon as you save-the-planet, preserve-the-climate people are out of sight, you go on doing what you preach the rest of us shouldn’t do.”
Alex: “That’s no argument against changing world habits. That’s just an indictment of hypocritical individuals.”
Zander: “You’re right. My argument isn’t germane to your point, but it isn’t far off the periphery of what you are saying. But my argument has its basis in human nature. Given the chance to have a fine wine and Wagyu beef or some tofu beef substitute, which do you think most people would choose? Which do the very rich choose? It’s the problem every society faces: Give someone authority, and you give someone a mentality of superiority, of being above the law. You see it in politicians all the time. You think that turning over your wealth via carbon taxes is going to engender that climate utopia you seek. In reality, you’re going to fund more corruption and make a segment of humanity richer with a more luxurious lifestyle that they will enjoy while you eat tofu and corn.
“And as for those farms that will replace grasslands used to feed the cows, will they have to be extended into the rainforests and the rest of the temperate forests? Who will control—since there’s little evidence that anyone has to this point controlled effectively—the slash-and-burn practice that changes the amount of carbon thrown into the atmosphere and that alters soils both in nutrients and albedo?”
Alex: “We’ll establish policies.”
Zander: “Who is the ‘we’ you seem to trust so unconditionally?”
Alex: “That’s why we need to follow the advice of people like those who did the recent study.”
Zander: “Wait a minute. Let me pull this up. Is this it?”
Alex: “Yes, ‘A sustainable development pathway for climate action within the UN 2030 Agenda.’ That’s the report.”
Zander: “Okay. Here’s what Elmar Kriegler, the co-author of the study says, ‘Our analysis presents a possible pathway towards a more sustainable future and shows that human well-being can be reconciled with planetary integrity. It is up to policymakers and society at large to turn this vision into tangible action.’ Pay attention, Alex, to that second sentence. Policymakers. Those are the very hypocritical I’m-better-than-you people we’ve had to contend with since people first entrusted others to govern them. Those are the same people who are known for the do-as-I-say-and-not-as-I-do governing that infuriates so many and makes individuals act like individuals with self-interest. You ascribe to them wisdom and integrity. Oh! Reminds me. What in the world is ‘climate integrity’? Is climate integrity the Little Ice Age or the Medieval Warm Period? Is it the two-century long droughts that have hit the American Southwest during the past couple of millennia? And ‘tangible action? Does Kriegler mean ‘effective action’?
“Just a side thought here, but do you trust the people who directed others during the 2020-21 pandemic to make wise decisions regarding your lifestyle? Let’s say they ban meat. Is that good? Aren’t we on the verge of a few controlling the masses? Isn’t this just going to result in more failed socialist policies? Look at this statement by a participant in the study: ‘Another intervention area includes global equity and poverty alleviation in the form of international climate finance and a pro-poor redistribution of carbon pricing revenues.’ ** Every time I read this stuff, I see the makings of wealth redistribution, and every time I see someone put it into action, I see the poor made poorer and the oligarchs made richer.”
Alex: “You just don’t have faith in humanity.”
Zander: “I can only say that my faith in humanity is under constant test. I’m going out for a burger. Care to join me? Look, as a concession, I’ll order a plant-based burger, though I don’t know what chemicals they add to make beans taste like meat.”
Notes:
*Soergel, Bjoern, et al. 2 August 2021. A sustainable development pathway for climate change action within the UN 2030 Agenda. Nature Climate Change 11, 656-664. (2021). Online at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01098-3 Accessed August 3, 2021.
**Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. 2 August 2021. New pathway to mitigate climate change and boost progress on UN Sustainable Development Goals. Phys.org. Online at https://phys.org/news/2021-08-pathway-mitigate-climate-boost-sustainable.html Accessed August 3, 2021.
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