what the newspapers will tell you is that agriculture produces around 15% of the carbon that goes into the atmosphere, which is true. but, what they forget to tell you is that this is naturally occurring carbon, not new carbon.

what?

carbon, of course, is a naturally occurring substance in the environment. it's at the centre of every living organism around you.

and, there's something called a carbon cycle that describes how carbon recycles through the ecosystem. i suppose we get hit by meteorites once in a while, but the net amount of carbon in this system is roughly constant.

climate change is about the amount of carbon that we're introducing into the carbon cycle, and the only source of this introduced carbon is from fossil fuels, where it's been trapped in the ground, for millions or billions of years.

now, as mentioned, there are net inputs when it comes to meat production. the pesticides used to grow the grain are very carbon intensive, and opening up new grazing lands means cutting down trees. there's also transport issues, as well as a number of other things i'm sure i'm forgetting. but, in the abstract ideal of cattle roaming free on naturally occurring grassland, on the edge of an existing forest, there's no net increase of carbon at play.

so, why are they pushing this so hard?

because they think that if they can convert us all into vegans, they can salvage their business model. that is, the idea is to shift the blame, and then shift the source. they essentially think they can continue to emit new carbon, so long as they remove carbon from the existing cycle. get it?

but, it's a false solution, anyways, because even if we did manage to eliminate carbon being recycled by agriculture, your cars are going to eventually replace it all.

stated simply: it's oil industry propaganda. and, it's wide spread. and, people you like will repeat it. but, it's wrong.