Treating beef like coal would make a big dent in greenhouse-gas emissions

Beef, carbon cycles, and methane

• One camp argues cattle are “in the carbon cycle” and only dangerous when we add fossil carbon (oil-based feed, fuel, heating); in a purely solar/biological loop, their emissions would be self-limiting.
• Others counter that this ignores herd expansion, fossil inputs, and land-use change; cattle methane is highly potent in the near term and drives tipping points even if short-lived.
• Debate over importance of “inefficiency”: some say extra trophic steps (plants → cows → humans) are inherently wasteful; opponents say inefficiency only matters when system limits are breached.

Land use, feed, and water

• Large shares of arable land and crops (corn, soy) go to feed livestock rather than humans, with big caloric and resource losses.
• Discussion of imported soy to Europe: even cows on marginal pasture may rely on deforestation-linked soy from elsewhere.
• Wetland drainage and rainforest conversion for pasture/feed are seen as major, often effectively permanent, GHG sources.
• Water use is heavily criticized: beef’s water footprint is cited as an order of magnitude higher than soy per serving; aquifer depletion leads to ecological and even geotechnical damage.

Industrial vs grass-fed and other meats

• Grass-fed, low-input ruminants can support biodiversity and soil in some ecosystems, but are a tiny fraction of total beef and don’t represent mainstream production.
• CAFOs, corn-based feed, manure lagoons, antibiotics, and pollution dominate current beef systems and are heavily criticized.
• Pork, poultry, and fish are noted as more efficient per unit protein; cheese from cow’s milk is flagged as surprisingly impactful.

Policy, pricing, and feasibility

• Strong agreement that externalities (climate, pollution, pandemics, cruelty) are not priced into meat.
• Proposed levers: ending grain and fossil-fuel subsidies, taxing CAFO meat and fossil extraction, making soy feed less competitive. Many see these as politically very hard.

Individual behavior and ethics

• Suggested responses range from cutting back (“Meatless Monday”) to full vegetarianism, to treating meat as an occasional luxury.
• Others stress nuance: type and source of meat matter; backyard or small-scale systems may differ.
• Ethical debate over killing animals for taste versus anthropocentric views that prioritize human benefit.

Technology and broader systems

• Novel protein like solar-powered microbial “solar foods” is discussed as potentially far more land- and resource-efficient than plants.
• Some commenters widen the lens: civilization itself is framed as an inherently ecosystem-disrupting machine; others reject this as nihilistic and argue for genuinely sustainable, non-growing systems.