The Great Debate UK
Government intervention key to low-carbon economy
Scientists argue that rich nations must make drastic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions to prevent dangerous climate change. The way energy is used, priced and created would have to change in order to institute these cuts.
Ahead of elections in Britain, which must be held before June 2010, Dave Timms of Friends of the Earth shared his thoughts with Reuters on what the group thinks the next government needs to do in order to build a low-carbon economy.
Farming battles and the future of food
Everybody wants to end hunger, but just how to do so is a divisive question that pits environmentalists against anti-poverty campaigners, big business against consumers and rich countries against poor.
The Food Chain Campaign is not about becoming vegetarian, say the Friends of the Earth, it is about putting pressure on the government to mitigate the damaging impact of meat and dairy production on the environment.
“The meat and dairy industry produces more climate-changing emissions than all the planes, cars and lorries on the planet,” argues the group. “A hidden chain links animals in British factory farms to rainforest destruction in South America.”
London-based Kirtana Chandrasekaran shared the goals of the campaign with Reuters.
Kirtana, you are right! Industrial farming in the U.S. requires tremendous amounts of oil to manufacture fertilizer. When the world passes peak production of crude this practice of farming will be unsustainable. The concentrated livestock practices here in the States creates a huge animal waste problem affecting air and water quality as well as meat safety.
The logical solution is to go back to small farms that raise livestock. Pastures can be rotated with crops greatly reducing the need for industrial fertilizer and mitigating all other environmental concerns as well.
