Vegan Hummer vs Carnivorous Prius

[zenMachine]

Eating his words: Michael Pollan retracts Hummer-vegan/Prius-meat-eater comment — Autoblog Green

Want to give your public pronouncement a little zing? Try throwing in the words Hummer and Prius and imply that the SUV is better for the earth than the Prius. CNW sure knows the value of making the false claim. Last week, author Michael Pollan tried a similar trick when he said at the 2009 Poptech conference that, "A vegan in a Hummer has a lighter carbon footprint than a beef eater in a Prius."

[tripp]

I wonder what kind of diet they base the 2 tonnes on. Is based on the average amount meat consumed per capita? What kinda of meat? How much of each? I have to agree with autoblog,

Can't a car just get 50 MPG in peace?

[F8L]

There Are a lot of variables that go into calculating for such an idea.

What type of grains and fruits is the vegan eating?

What kind of livestock and how is it raised?

[Rae Vynn]

I'm a vegan in a Prius - I'm saving the world!!

[TonyPSchaefer]

Originally Posted by Rae Vynn

I'm a vegan in a Prius - I'm saving the world!!

My wife and I are getting there. We recently finished the book "Skinny Bitch" and have decided that since we're not heavy meat eaters anyway that we would start really watching what we eat. We're using the rest of this year to ease into it and empty out our existing stores in the pantry. Her next car will either be a Fusion Hybrid or a Prius so we'll be two vegetarians in two hybrids.

[Shawn Clark]

Originally Posted by F8L

There Are a lot of variables that go into calculating for such an idea.

What type of grains and fruits is the vegan eating?

What kind of livestock and how is it raised?

Not to mention how much does one actually consume...

Being as the average American is seriously overweight and none in my family are, nor are our portions ridiculous, I wouldn't be surprised to find the basis was "cooked" from the beginning by a substantial factor.

I find the concept of vegan diet slightly less appealing than eating cardboard and drinking chalk water for the rest of my life. (And that from a guy who regularly cooks Indian food.) Better to shoot a Hummer driver and continue eating moderately as a carbon footprint compensation. Should be easy, Hummer drivers think they are bullet proof...ala Arnie and his T-101 Terminator chassis.

At least being vegetarian has some common sense about it and would have some flavor. Vegan? Not so much.

[Rae Vynn]

Originally Posted by Shawn Clark

At least being vegetarian has some common sense about it and would have some flavor. Vegan? Not so much.

Which merely shows that you have not indulged yourself with truly awesome vegan food.

Detroit participants - did I appear to lack common sense (the night in the bar does not count)? Do I look like I have no FLAVOR in my life? Hmm? Anyone? Beuller? Beuller?

[zenMachine]

It’s true that food production is an important contributor to climate change. And the claim that meat (especially beef) is closely linked to global warming has received some credible backing, including by the United Nations and University of Chicago. Both institutions have issued reports that have been widely summarized as condemning meat-eating.

But that’s an overly simplistic conclusion to draw from the research. To a rancher like me, who raises cattle, goats and turkeys the traditional way (on grass), the studies show only that the prevailing methods of producing meat — that is, crowding animals together in factory farms, storing their waste in giant lagoons and cutting down forests to grow crops to feed them — cause substantial greenhouse gases. It could be, in fact, that a conscientious meat eater may have a more environmentally friendly diet than your average vegetarian.

So what is the real story of meat’s connection to global warming? Answering the question requires examining the individual greenhouse gases involved: carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxides...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/31/opinion/31niman.html

[Chuck.]

Even if you are a meat eater, the way livestock animals are treated, raises sustainability and humane issues.

[zenMachine]

And then there's this!

The Daily News Online > Breaking News > Dog's eco-footprint equals a Hummer, study says

Thanks for killing the planet, dog owners.

Well, that’s a rough paraphrase of a New Zealand study that claims a medium-size dog leaves a larger ecological footprint than an SUV.

In “Time to Eat the Dog? The Real Guide to Sustainable Living,” authors Robert and Brenda Vale argue that resources required to feed a dog -- including the amount of land needed to feed the animals that go into its food -- give it about twice the eco-footprint of, say, building and fueling a Toyota Land Cruiser. Noting that a cat’s pawprint was roughly equivalent to a Volkswagen Golf’s, “New Scientist” (Science news and science jobs from New Scientist - New Scientist) asked an environmentalist at the Stockholm Environment Institute in York, U.K., to independently calculate animals’ environmental impact, and reported that “his figures tallied almost exactly.” The study apparently didn’t take into account the emissions of either the SUV or the dogs.