A free webinar, “Animal Ag’s Role in Greenhouse Gas Production: A Closer Look,” will be held on June 11, as part of eXtension’s Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center monthly webcast series.
University of California-Davis associate professor and air quality specialist Frank Mitloehner traces much of the public confusion over meat and milk’s role in climate change to two sentences in a 2006 United Nations report, entitled: "Livestock's Long Shadow." Printed only in the report's executive summary and nowhere in the body of the report, the sentences read, “The livestock sector is a major player, responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions measured in CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalents). This is a higher share than transport.”
Those statements are not accurate, Mitloehner says, yet their wide distribution has put Americans and others on the wrong path toward solutions. Leading authorities do agree that, in the United States, raising cattle and pigs for food accounts for about 3% of all greenhouse gas emissions, while transportation creates an estimated 26%, he adds.
Rick Stowell, University of Nebraska Extension specialist focusing on air quality in animal agriculture, will serve as the moderator for the webcast. The presentation begins at 1:30 p.m. (Central Standard Time). Before or after the webcast, ask questions, post comments, upload photos or share personal experiences pertaining to the topic at animalag.ning.com. Click on “discussion” to start.
More information about the Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center is available on the eXtension site: www.extension.org. eXtension, a network of researchers and educators from cooperative Extension services across the United States, provides objective, research-based and credible information.
On July 9, the Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center will host the webcast entitled, "Planning for Manure Spills," at 1:30 p.m. (Central time). Additional information will be posted as it becomes available.