Whenever the causes of climate change are discussed, fossil fuels top the list. Oil, natural gas, and especially coal are indeed major sources of human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases(GHGs). But we believe that the life cycle and supply chain of domesticated animals raised for food have been vastly underestimated as a source of GHGs, and in fact account for at least half of all human-caused GHGs.

If this argument is right, it implies that replacing live-stock products with better alternatives would be the best strategy for reversing climate change. In fact, this approach wouldhave far more rapid effects on GHG emissions and theiratmospheric concentrations—and thus on the rate the cli-mate is warming—than actions to replace fossil fuels withrenewable energy

Animal agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, water consumption and pollution, is responsible for more greenhouse gases than the transportation industry, and is a primary driver of rainforest destruction, species extinction, habitat loss, topsoil erosion, ocean “dead zones,” and virtually every other environmental ill. Yet it goes on, almost entirely unchallenged.