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alfredo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 12:09 AM
Original message
Kangaroo burgers a way to cut global warming/climate change?
Grazing animals emit a lot of Methane because of a chemical reaction in their gut from microbe in their gut. Cut the amount of methane, cut the damage it causes. Kangaroos don't belch methane like Cows and Sheep. Going vegetarian is also an option suggest in this article.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/04/070402-egypt-volcano.html


COWS, sheep and goats may seem like innocent victims of humanity's appetite for meat, but when it comes to climate change they have a dark secret. Forget cars, planes or even power stations, some of the world's worst greenhouse gas emitters wander idly across rolling pastures chewing the cud, oblivious to the fact that their continuous belching (and to a lesser degree, farting) is warming the planet.

Take New Zealand, where 34.2 million sheep, 9.7 million cattle, 1.4 million deer and 155,000 goats emit 48 per cent of the country's greenhouse gases in the form of methane and nitrous oxide. Worldwide, livestock burps are responsible for 18 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions - more than produced from all forms of transport combined. Methane accounts for the bulk of ruminant green house gas emissions, one tonne of the gas has 25 times the global warming potential of the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide.
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NYC_SKP Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 12:13 AM
Response to Original message
1. Soylent Green Burgers would cut global warming A LOT!!!!
:rofl:
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alfredo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 12:22 AM
Response to Reply #1
4. Heavily processed foods aren't the answer.
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NYC_SKP Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 12:29 AM
Response to Reply #4
7. Then straight up barbecue!
Or big pots in the jungle!
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alfredo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 12:36 AM
Response to Reply #7
9. An African adventurer described eating human flesh. He said it was a
cross between porcupine and pork. He didn't know he was eating a young girl until later. Cannibalism, as I remember, is mostly ceremonial, you know, like funnel cakes at the Fourth of July.
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NYC_SKP Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 12:49 AM
Response to Reply #9
13. Well, I like pork OK, but never had porcupine...
I'll take a pass on porcupines and people.

A funnel cake sounds yummy and utterly without nutritious value, however!
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alfredo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 01:20 AM
Response to Reply #13
18. After six beers, three corn dogs, some fried fish, a bit of funnel cake
and suspect lemonade should cap off a perfect evening.
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DJ13 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 12:16 AM
Response to Original message
2. Many years ago Jack in the Box was inadvertently selling kangaroo
They were sourcing some of their hamburger from Australia, and the packer wasnt a very honest outfit.

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alfredo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 12:29 AM
Response to Reply #2
6. It wouldn't have mattered to me, as long as the meat is clear of disease,
and not full of chemicals. I'll eat just about any meat, or I will eat no meat. If they sold veggie burgers, I'd eat those too if they meet the same standard as the meat I eat. Oh yeah, it has to taste good.

I had Elk today. It was pretty good.
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ZombieHorde Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 03:19 AM
Response to Reply #6
40. If you were in a 'plane wreck in the snowy moutians' situation, would you eat a dead Human?
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alfredo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 07:21 AM
Response to Reply #40
43. If there was no other choice.
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ZombieHorde Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 12:20 AM
Response to Original message
3. I used to be vegan.
When people asked me why, I use to say; "The sooner we end our reliance on animals, the sooner we can kill them all."

I did not really believe this, but it fucked with their arguments.
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alfredo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 12:33 AM
Response to Reply #3
8. If we stopped eating beef and released them into the wild, they'd probably
go extinct.
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ZombieHorde Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 12:37 AM
Response to Reply #8
10. Does not India keep cows for non food reasons?
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alfredo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 12:38 AM
Response to Reply #10
11. Yeah, but they do use the milk for food.
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ZombieHorde Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 12:48 AM
Response to Reply #11
12. So then, they probably would not go extinct. There would just be no cows in the U.S.
Or maybe a few as pets.
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alfredo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 01:23 AM
Response to Reply #12
19. The cow will still be around for us lacto-ovo in the crowd.
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ZombieHorde Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 02:04 AM
Response to Reply #19
26. Yes, ice cream is so yummy.
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alfredo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 07:21 AM
Response to Reply #26
42. I loved making my own. It's better that way.
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dysfunctional press Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 01:40 AM
Response to Reply #12
21. why wouldn't there be cows in the u.s?
herds of water buffalo and yak seem to fare pretty well in their environs...and north america before whitey supported LOTS of HUGH buffalo herds.

:shrug:
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ZombieHorde Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 02:04 AM
Response to Reply #21
25. before whitey
Exactly.

Cows would have very few places to go in modern times. A national park may keep them safe.

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dysfunctional press Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 02:18 AM
Response to Reply #25
29. there are still herds of wild horses out there.
groups of rouge guernseys might just surprise you with their tenacity and will to survive.
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ZombieHorde Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 02:21 AM
Response to Reply #29
31. I would be delighted to be surprised by a herd of wild cows.
I would like to not that it was not me who originally stated that cows would go extinct if people quite eating them.

I just suggested that Indians would keep them around.
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dysfunctional press Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 02:25 AM
Response to Reply #31
33. careful- you've got a renegade 'e" on your hands...
it jumped from 'note' to 'quit'.

don't be a hero- call for help.
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ZombieHorde Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 02:42 AM
Response to Reply #33
37. You are right! I am going to kick the letter e's ass!
Fucking Es, think their better than me.
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dysfunctional press Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 01:37 AM
Response to Reply #8
20. like the buffalo did...?
oh, wait...
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alfredo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 11:58 AM
Response to Reply #20
45. the buffalo was killed because they interfered with rail roads. They were
also essential for the Native Americans. Kill off the Buffalo and you starve the natives into extinction or submission. Too often American settlers and travelers weren't eating them, they were killing for sport
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LeftyMom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 01:44 AM
Response to Reply #8
23. Animals bred solely for efficiency as food production units?
Quite possibly. Would that be a particular problem with unnatural species that bred into unhealthy and uncomfortable extremes for the benefit of cheaper food production? Not particularly. If anything, one could argue that ceasing to breed these animals would be righting a moral wrong.

Of course since the world isn't going vegan overnight, what'd really happen is a gradual decline in intentional breeding of farmed animals. Which is exactly the same thing that happens when one animal "food" suffers a reduction in demand when the price falls due to a health scare or a culinary trend or whatever.
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flvegan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 12:25 AM
Response to Original message
5. Meh. Go vegan and be done with it.
:shrug:
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ZombieHorde Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 12:56 AM
Response to Reply #5
14. Tough sell.
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flvegan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 01:08 AM
Response to Reply #14
17. Why?
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ZombieHorde Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 02:12 AM
Response to Reply #17
27. Because most people do not like the idea of adapting a diet that is different...
than what they were raised with. Many people, even some liberals, are threatened by vegans.

When I was a vegan, a man, who became a Buddhist monk a year latter, seemed insulted by my choice of dietary restrictions. He actually raised his voice against me when I told him.

Disclaimer: I am very, very drunk right now, so I apologize if my post is nonsensical.
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flvegan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 02:16 AM
Response to Reply #27
28. I agree with your theory.
Maybe tomorrow we could talk about why.

What're you drinking? No apologies needed, of course.
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ZombieHorde Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 02:23 AM
Response to Reply #28
32. 1.5 bottles of wine. I rarely drink anymore, so that is a lot of alcohol for me.
I feel so good, but my walking is awkward.
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silverojo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 02:38 AM
Response to Reply #17
35. Because it's dangerous
Human beings are omnivores...which includes "carnivore". We need meat. Tofu just doesn't cut it.

I tried that vegetarian bullshit, and all I got were health problems...up to and including a vitamin B12 deficiency that could've resulted in permanent nerve damage, coma, or death.

Emissions from cars and factories are doing a lot more damage to our atmosphere than cow farts. :eyes:
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ZombieHorde Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 03:18 AM
Response to Reply #35
39. There is some disgusting sea plant that contians B12.
I took a supplement of it when I was vegan and had no dietary problems.
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dysfunctional press Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 01:41 AM
Response to Reply #5
22. that's not going to happen anytime soon in the u.s...
at least not while i'm still around.
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flvegan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 01:58 AM
Response to Reply #22
24. Guess I'll ask. Why not?
And what incredible bit do you have to add that keeps others from trying it out "at least not while (you're) around"?
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dysfunctional press Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 02:21 AM
Response to Reply #24
30. seems pretty obvious- i like meat, and i'm not giving it up...
where did i say that i'd keep others from trying it?

and why would i have to? there doesn't seem to be any kind of overwhelming rush in that direction by society.
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undeterred Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 12:59 AM
Response to Original message
15. Why don't we educate these animals to have some manners?
Surely there's a Bovine Whisperer out there who can teach them not to belch and fart.

:hide:
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spag68 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 01:04 AM
Response to Original message
16. Cow gas
It surprises me that no one has figured out a way to capture all that methane gas? It reminds me of the steel mills which had stacks burning methane from coal to coke emissions 24/7. I guess burning it is a better ecological solution then just venting it into the air, However if you have to burn something, methane is the cleanest burning of nat gasses. Except for the pollution done at the mine and transportation of the coal, we had a method of extracting the methane without releasing any of the bad gas into the air. This was done at a demonstration plant outside of Pgh. and was competitive with nat gas at the time. These companies have satill not realized how valuable all those side gasses and heavy metals are worth,so it is up the the regulators to clean up their act once and for all. I got done in Western Pa. and now instead of having black noontimes, we have clear sky's and fish in the Allegheny river. We can do thing in suck a way that the environment is not harmed, but ignoring it to make more profit is the order of the day and has been for 150 years or so. At it's Clairton coke ovens US Steel extracts some 200 chemicals from the coal and one of them is anhydrous ammonia 30 years ago this one chemical was showing1 million a day profit, that's net not gross. All these things can be done and should have already been done. If the Government can get out from underneath all the lobbyist pressure and force them to do the right thing at the mine sites and in building the coal to gas plants near production it could work. In Western Pa. there are thousands of reclaimed strip mined land that have been completely replanted and now house house plans.Coal is not bad, it's an inanimate object we use in a stupid way, that's what is bad.Even nukes are not necessarily bad, only the way in which we treat the waste. That said I still prefer solar electric , thermal, or wind. Geothermal is the bear in the woodshed, gets little notice, but maybe the best of them all. If we can survive the next 8-10 years we will have this stuff figured out,until then it is important that we keep after the doubters and use any renewable that we can, in any small way we can. The new thin film solar is a couple years away, but it will sell at 1$ a what instead of 4$ a watt,and I have a plan for my roof this spring, so wish me good luck . I hope I can get it done. Maybe I can get some bailout money from the of the Rachael Maddow show Bank,after all they are letting GMAC become a bank,so maybe she has a chance. Better get started on my paperwork.
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ColbertWatcher Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 02:33 AM
Response to Original message
34. How much rain forest land is used for grazing animals?
I think it's more than just the methane, it's the amount of land that's needed to keep the world supplied with burgers and the amount of refrigeration/freezers needed to keep them fresh.

Not to mention how much water they need to keep them hydrated and grow the food to keep the animals fed--before we eat them.

I'm sure there's other stuff I'm missing as well.

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depakid Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 02:39 AM
Response to Original message
36. Kangaroo's actually a vey lean and healthy meat
But try rounding them and herding them, into pens....

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alfredo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 07:26 AM
Response to Reply #36
44. Bison is too. Down the food chain is Blue Gills, and fresh water lobster:
the Crayfish.




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Crunchy Frog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 02:59 AM
Response to Original message
38. I bet people burgers would make an even greater difference.
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ZombieHorde Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-26-08 03:47 AM
Response to Reply #38
41. I agree. Over population + many starving people = easy solution.
Bwahahahaha!
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