Photo by Kris Krüg

(Updated below with Michael Pollan's response)

You want some petroleum with that Big Mac?

Journalist and food writer Michael Pollan broke down the hidden cost of America's best-known burger on Saturday to an eager audience at the Poptech conference. He traced the Big Mac's origins all the way back to the oil fields, used to make fertilizer that is crucial to the corn grown for cows in massive feeds lots.

“Our meat eating is one of the most important contributors we make to climate change," said Pollan, who is best known for his book "The Omnivore's Dilemma."

"A vegan in a Hummer has a lighter carbon footprint than a beef eater in a Prius.”

It's a great line and quite a mental image, one that wowed the audience and quickly spread on Twitter. Too bad it's not true.

Gidon Eshel and Pamela Martin of the University of Chicago published a 2005 paper in the journal Earth Interactions that looked at the relative carbon footprints of plant-based and red-meat diets.

They found that the difference between an heavy meat-eating diet and a vegan diet was about 2 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per person per year. The difference between a Prius and an SUV (they used a Suburban, which gets about the same mileage as a Hummer) was 4.76 tons per year.

Pollan's claim, said Eshel, "is emphatically wrong. If you're looking at the mean American driving habits and eating habits, it's not even close."

"In my heart I'm flatly on the Pollan side, but I'm a scientist and I don't like to play fast and loose with numbers," he added. "It's like death panels in the healthcare debate. We don't want to get into hyperbolic statements that are numerically unsound."

To be sure, the calculations behind food-related carbon footprints can be complex. The impact of a Big Mac includes the carbon footprint of the cattle feed and the fertilizer used to grow it, the fuel burned to get the animal to a feedlot and then to market, and the animal's emissions of methane gas, which can be 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.

UPDATE: Michael Pollan has asked Poptech not to post his presentation without removing the statistic about the vegan Hummer driver.

"After digging in to it further, and consulting Gidon Eschel, I don't feel comfortable defending it," he wrote to Reuters in an email. "It's much more important to keep the focus on the central thrust of the environmental case against eating industrial meat, which is not in dispute and certainly does not stand or fall on the case of the vegan Hummer driver."

"Thanks for your doggedness on this matter, which we can hope will stop this meme before it hurts somebody," he added.

The blogger Fat Knowledge did a separate calculation of the numbers after Eshel and Martin's paper was published, and concluded:

Going from a Mad Meat Eater diet to a Vegan diet saves 6.5 tonnes of CO2 a year while going from a Hummer to a Prius saves 6.4 tonnes. Given a margin of error on the values, I call that a tie.

The numbers have also shifted as gas mileage improves. Using Eshel and Martin's calculations with the current EPA mileage statistics, a 2010 model Hummer getting 14-15 miles per gallon has a carbon footprint of 4.3 to 4.7 tons per year, depending on whether it's an automatic or manual transmission model. (The EPA's own carbon footprint calculations, which include the manufacture of the vehicle, are significantly higher)

A 2010 Prius getting 50 miles per gallon has a footprint of 1.4 tons. The difference is 2.6 to 3.3 tons per year -- not very far from the 2 ton difference between a meat-eater and a vegan.

Click her for more Poptech coverage.

Apple, which made news in environmental circles recently with its new approach to environmental accounting, took another high-profile action on climate change Monday when it resigned its membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over the group's environmental policies.

Apple became just the latest defection from the business lobbying group. And given that Apple's every move generates buckets of publicity, the action may serve to thrust the climate change issue into greater focus for the buying public.

Last month three big power utilities -- Exelon Corp, PG&E Corp and PNM Resources Inc -- said they were leaving the Chamber over its stance on global warming legislation. Nike last week resigned from the board of the Chamber, which has pushed for public hearings to challenge the scientific evidence of manmade climate change.

Apple made its resignation in a letter to Chamber CEO Thomas Donohue:

"As a company, we are working hard to reduce our own greenhouse gas emissions ... We have undertaken this unilaterally and without government mandate, because we believe it is the right thing to do. For those companies who cannot or will not do the same, Apple supports regulating greenhouse gas emissions, and it is frustrating to find the Chamber at odds with us in this effort."

"We would prefer that the Chamber take a more progressive stance on this critical issue and play a constructive role in addressing the climate crisis. However, because the Chamber's position differs so sharply with Apple's, we have decided to resign our membership effective immediately."

The iPhone and Mac maker last month unveiled a new method for assessing its environmental impact. It now calculates what it calls its entire carbon footprint-–from design to production to the emissions generated by those who use it products.

As Americans forgo expensive vacations, costly dinners and shopping mall splurges, many are opting instead for the quiet simplicity of fishing, according to the sport fishing industry and reports from bait shops and fishermen.

My colleague Jason Szep has done a report on this which you can read here.

As a life-long angler and fly fishing addict, I have long held that my passion is a green one. Anglers and hunters spend money on license fees that is ploughed into conservation programs. Guide services provide income and employment which gives local communities, tax payers and voters a vested interest in conservation.

There are also organizations like Trout Unlimited  that are dedicated to freshwater conservation and get much of their support from anglers.

But I also know that my hobby has added considerably to my personal “carbon footprint.” As Jason notes in his report, falling gas prices have lured more anglers out on the road. If you fish or hunt, you probably drive — a lot.

Then there are concerns about over harvesting fresh water fish populations, though bag and size limits are aimed at making the sport sustainable. Most fly anglers like myself release wild fish. And commercial fishing in the world’s depleted oceans is clearly a far bigger environmental threat than recreational fishing, be it inland or at sea.

What do you think? Is recreational fishing “green” and sustainable? Or do other factors such as fuel consumption cloud the picture?

(Dan Seguin holds one that didn’t get away. REUTERS/Brian Snyder, March 7, 2009)

On an icy but sunny Sunday morning we drove from Nash Hall, a mediaeval farmhouse near the Welsh town of Presteigne, to Ludlow in a 100-year-old open car. The 20-mile trip through the border country was about as exhilarating as a short car journey can be.

Despite being wrapped up like Edwardian motorists, we were still freezing cold. Our pleasure in the stark winter landscape was tinged with a slight worry about how the old car’s brakes (rear wheels only) would handle an emergency stop at its rather sporting pace of around 45 mph.

At the wheel was Roger “Wilkie” Collings, formerly in charge of the Gilbern sports car company and currently the owner of two sporting Bentleys from the 1920s. Cars like these are worth a fortune and most owners keep them spotless in heated garages. Collings’ cars live in a barn, spattered with mud from their last competition outing.

But for the trip to Ludlow, we were in a Zuest, a car built in Italy by a Swiss engineer and of which only a couple are thought to survive. Collings told me he has owned his for half its life. He took it to Italy once, to the museum where the other Zuest resides, and received a hero’s welcome.

This all raises a question. Could this Zuest be one of the greenest cars on the planet? Its carbon footprint should be almost invisible by now, since the energy used to build it was expended 100 years ago.

Of course we can’t all drive around in century-old automotive rarities. But maybe one way of being a more eco-conscious driver would be to nurture an old classic rather than simply trade our cars in every few years.

Now that Bank of America is cutting back on lending to mountain top removal mining companies, citing the environmental costs, rival Citigroup is weighing its options.

“Bank of America’s announcement has just been released so Citi will study the content,” the bank said on Friday. Citi and Bank of America were prime targets of Rainforest Action Network and others for their support of mountaintop removal mining for coal in Appalachia. Cutting the top off a mountain is a cheap and efficient way to get coal — and environmental groups call it an ecological disaster.

“We are continuing to learn about this issue through engaging and listening to a variety of stakeholders, including our clients. Today we met with a number of industry, scientific, and community experts to listen and learn from their perspectives. Citi has a long history of engaging in dialogue with our stakeholders on this and other critical environmental issues,” the bank said.

Rainforest Action Network says the bank has a history of funding dirty coal and has called Citi’s steps to curb its carbon footprint small. The coal industry, on the other hand, says Bank of America is pandering to the the green movement at the expense of work in a place where jobs are few and far between.

(Photo: Reuters/Andrea Hopkins)

By Peter Jebautzke

Getting caught speeding changed my life — for the better.

It inadvertently turned me into a devoted bike commuter, has saved me lots of money, aggravation — and even saved the world a little bit of carbon dioxide to boot. Since giving up the car for my daily commutes by bike to work in August, I’ve also lost about 2 kilos and now look forward to my daily 16 km journeys each way to and from the office.

Other colleagues who cycle to work had long tried to encourage me to try out commuting by bike. We’ve even got a little shower here where I work in the centre of Berlin. But it was always so much easier to jump into the car.

In April, I jumped into the car and stepped on the gas a bit too hard. I got a late-night call from the office and had to get there in a hurry. The motorway was clear so I got up to 117 kph. That was 37 kph over the 80 kph limit. The police caught me — and I lost my driver’s licence for a month.

I tried commuting via the underground for a few days but I didn’t like feeling like a sardine. So I bought a mountain bike and cycled the 16 km home one day. It was exhausting but somehow delightful as well. It took me 77 minutes. Within a few days I was down to 56 minutes and within two weeks I had cut my time to about 48 minutes. I got to work and home feeling
invigorated by the fresh air and cardio workout.

I’ve since cut my best commuting time to 35 minutes — when I push the pace. That’s even two minutes faster than my previous commuting time in the car. Even when I don’t push the pedals too hard I can make it under 40 minutes.

So the net result is: no CO2, better fitness, far lower commuting costs and less wear and tear on my car. The only thing that I wonder about is: Why didn’t I think of this sooner?

(Peter Jebautzke is a project engineer working for Reuters in Berlin)

Kenyan blogger Juliana Rotich is the editor of Green Global Voices, which monitors citizen media in the developing world, and will be a regular contributor. ReutersThomson is not responsible for the content - the views are the author’s alone.

Earlier this year, GV Environment listed the web2.0 tools for environment activism. Since then many more tools have been developed to help concerned citizens make decisions about their carbon footprint and engage with others using maps and games. This post will highlight some mashups, online communities, carbon footprint calculators and one online game.

Mashups

Rory of Carbon Smart Blog announced the Greening Africa Map by outlining the goal of the google map mashup and asking others to send in information about projects to be included.

My point is to highlight positive things that are being done in Africa. There are a lot of projects out there, but many are just not visible. The first projects on the map are mostly around Cape Town, just because I live here and have some firsthand knowledge of the area; but I don’t want this to be a South African map.

Greening Africa Map

View Larger Map

Clean Up The World is an initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme. It is a global campaign to clean, fix up and conserve the environment and they have created a mashup to show the communities involved around the world. The activities mapped relate to water, recycling, tree planting, education and climate change mitigation. To visit the site please click on the graphic below.

Online Communities

Connect2Earth features environment related photos, videos and posts that are submitted by the public. The entries will be voted on by other members and the highly ranked entrants receive mobile phones from Nokia (A sponsor of the site). The winning entries will be shown at the World Conservation congress in Barcelona. Topics discussed include Global warming, waste & pollution, sustainable transport, mobile life & work, natural habitat, wildlife and clean energy.

connect2earth is a space for you to tell the world why you care about our planet

350

350.org is an online community of activists working to raise awareness of the target for reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere.

350 is the red line for human beings, the most important number on the planet. The most recent science tells us that unless we can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, we will cause huge and irreversible damage to the earth.

But solutions exist. All around the world, a movement is building to take on the climate crisis, to get humanity out of the danger zone and below 350. This movement is massive, it is diverse, and it is visionary. We are activists, scholars, and scientists. We are leaders in our businesses, our churches, our governments, and our schools. We are clean energy advocates, forward-thinking politicians, and fearless revolutionaries. And we are united around the world, driven to make our planet livable for all who come after us.

Carbon Footprint Calculators

Ecorio

Jaimi Heimbuch of Treehugger referred to Ecorio as a super cool app that will be available on the new Android powered G1 Google phone. Ecorio is a mobile application that runs in the background tracking trips. It adds up the miles and shows the carbon footprint and cost of offsetting it.

Dopplr - Carbon calculator for trips

Dopplr is a tool used by frequent flyers to share information about upcoming trips with friends and colleagues. The service shows coincidences and helps people connect. Dopplr added the ‘My carbon’ calculator that shows travelers their carbon footprint by utilizing data from AMEE, an organization better known as the ‘The world’s energy meter’.

Online Game

World without Oil
This is an alternate reality game that is interactive and whose outcome is crafted by the players and their interactions.

The premise of World Without Oil was simple and provocative: What if an oil crisis started on April 30, 2007 - what would happen? How would the lives of ordinary people change? Players were invited to imagine how their lives and communities would be different and how they would cope if the world’s oil suddenly dried up. The “plot” unfolded dynamically. First, the players read the “official news” and what other players were saying. Then, using a combination of blog posts, videos, images and even voice mails, they told their own stories of the challenges they were facing. As the crisis continued, players updated their stories with further thoughts, reactions and solutions.

Anthony Williams of Wikinomics wrote about the game, saying

There is no doubt that fighting climate change will require a massive worldwide effort that could dramatically alter much about the world as we know it today. We need more than just smart public policy. And we need more than a comprehensive retooling of industry and our infrastructure. We all need to give up our oil addictions and that, in turn, will require us to make some pretty profound changes in our daily lives. Alternate reality games like World Without Oil could play a vital role in engaging the public in making those vital changes.

Via Carbon Copy.