Peak Beef Could Already Be Here
For climate doomers and denialists alike, this is good news in the quest to rein in emissions.
A carbon hoofprint in decline.
Photographer: David Gray/BloombergIf you want to turn climate policy into a bitter culture war, there are few more effective weapons than a Big Mac.
On one side, environmentalists will point out that the cattle we raise cause about as much greenhouse pollution as all the world’s cars, trucks, ships and planes.1 On the other, irritated meat-lovers will call you a killjoy, and warn you don’t win friends with salad. There’s one place where the opposing groups agree, however: As incomes rise and allow people to buy more of it, beef-eating is such an irresistible habit that only implausibly radical behavioral changes can stop things spiraling still further out of control.