[jyounker]

I think the focus on cows is kind of ridiculous. Our world's natural balance before humans included vast numbers of ruminants over vast expanses of the world. (e.g. huge populations of forest buffalo in Europe, vast Mammoth and Bison herds in North America).

This is an issue being pushed with the intention of distracting from the real issue: fossil fuel use.

[lern_too_spel]

Here's the math: https://mrdrscienceteacher.wordpress.com/2019/09/21/bison-vs...

[DoingIsLearning]

> This is an issue being pushed with the intention of distracting from the real issue: fossil fuel use.

This part is still horribly true though.

Emmisions related to livestock are 5.8% of _all_ global CO2 and other GHG emissions [0]

In comparison Transport emissions are 16.2%. [0]

The steel industry as a single industry accounts for 7.2% of emissions.[0]

Methane leaks from Oil and gas drill sites and abandoned wells alone account for 5.8% of global emissions. [0]

Sure we need to look into all fronts but before we guilt people into oat milk shouldn't we, via policy, enforce leak cleanup of abandoned Oil&Gas drill sites?

[0] https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sect...

[Volundr]

Do we have to do these things in a specific order? Can't we do them in parallel? I suspect you'll find the cross section of people who want to reduce agricultural CO2 emissions and those who want to clean up gas and oil leaks to be quite large.

[DoingIsLearning]

This is always the counter argument but I never see any mediatic outrage towards Oil&Gas except for the odd Oil spill and the periodic outrage at fuel prices on every crude price rise.

Policy measures forcing Oil&Gas to clean-up or to internalize the environmental costs of emissions are _never_ part of public debate and to me that is worrying.

[jyounker]

There weren't just Bison though. Before humans came to North America there were vast herds of many other megafauna species out there too.