An interesting white paper on greenhouse gas production by livestock which refutes the claims of this sector being a huge contributor to overall GHG emissions.
[URL="http://www.afia.org/rc_files/801/livestocks_contribution_to_climate_change_facts_an d_fiction.pdf"]http://http://www.afia.org/rc_files/801/livestocks_contribution_to_climate_change_facts_an d_fiction.pdf[/URL]
While I welcome the perspective it brings I also find the conclusions a little misleading in that they presumably don't combine the GHG emissions produced by the animals AND the GHG created in the production of the livestock eg fuel for transport, electricity etc. If they did a proper calculation of all GHG created the US dairy cow would definitely not have a lower GHG footprint than the dairy cow in India or Mexico.
[URL="http://www.afia.org/rc_files/801/livestocks_contribution_to_climate_change_facts_an d_fiction.pdf"]http://http://www.afia.org/rc_files/801/livestocks_contribution_to_climate_change_facts_an d_fiction.pdf[/URL]
While I welcome the perspective it brings I also find the conclusions a little misleading in that they presumably don't combine the GHG emissions produced by the animals AND the GHG created in the production of the livestock eg fuel for transport, electricity etc. If they did a proper calculation of all GHG created the US dairy cow would definitely not have a lower GHG footprint than the dairy cow in India or Mexico.