Expert Opinion: Americans Will Need To Cut Meat Consumption To Meet Biden’s Climate Change Goal
Brent Kim, an expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, has expressed his concerns that Americans will need to cut their meat consumption to meet the president’s climate change goal.
Last week, Joe Biden pledged to cut the United States’ carbon emissions by 50-52% by 2030, almost doubling Obama’s promise of reducing them by 28% by 2025.
Biden said the following, according to CNBC:
“This is the decisive decade. This is the decade that we must make decisions to avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis.
This is a moral imperative. An economic imperative. A moment of peril, but also a moment of extraordinary possibilities.”
Thank you, @POTUS! https://t.co/Jn02j0IADV
— Climate Reality (@ClimateReality) April 22, 2021
Recently, the cutting down of meat consumption was said to be part of Biden’s plan, causing backlash from Republicans.
However, it has not been confirmed to be part of the president’s plan.
According to Kim, the US needs to cut back on its meat consumption if Biden’s goal is to be achieved. He also said that Americans need to look at their dairy consumption, on top of that.
Kim told the Daily Mail:
“To avoid the most catastrophic climate change scenarios, the evidence is clear that citizens in high-meat consuming countries – such as the United States – need to dramatically reduce their meat and dairy intake.
I’m not talking about banning certain foods or force-feeding anyone broccoli… but our food choices don’t occur within a vacuum. For better or for worse, what Americans choose to eat is heavily influenced by the availability of certain foods in their community, how much they cost, and whether healthy plant-based options are offered in our schools and institutions.”
He also said that these things are strongly dependent on local, state, and federal policy, and urged the government to give people ‘the option of choosing healthy, climate-friendly, plant-based meals’ at public institutions that are already funded by taxpayers’ money.
The President is yet to make an announcement regarding his policies that will help the country reduce its emissions, and has not talked about whether a reduction in meat consumption will be included in his plan.
Let them eat BUGS 🐛
Experts say Americans WILL have to cut back on meat for the US to meet Biden's climate change goal as president faces pressure to come clean on how he actually plans to slash greenhouse emissions 🤦🏻♀️
Daily Mail Online https://t.co/qed4ooy6QE— TheCyberChick (@warriors_mom) April 28, 2021
Kim went on to say that he believes the government’s attention also needs to be drawn to the agriculture industry of the United States.
He added the following:
“The plan also alludes to many opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the agriculture sector, including helping farmers to reduce soil erosion and store carbon in soils – ideas that are good for farmers, and good for the environment.”
The president’s initiatives come as a result of the US rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement earlier this year. Former President Donald Trump made the country leave the agreement after expressing concerns that it would have a bad impact on its economy.
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