Since livestock production is the #1 cause of climate change, why don't the government address the main issue?

Livestock production is the number one cause of pollution and climate change and people that refuse to believe that are in denial. The government won't do anything about it because........

1) factory farms pay billions in tax money

2) factory farmed food makes people sick

3) sick people support the billion dollar medical industry

4) the medical industry supports the pharmaceutical industry

5) the pharmaceutical industry pays billions in tax money

IT'S ALL ABOUT MONEY MY DEAR!

Joined up thinking doesn't happen. It doesn't even occur to most people that this is actually true, as is proven by some of your answers here.

To make it simple for people attached is a wiki article that breaks it down nicely - it's important to remember too that a vast amount of energy and resources is wasted on Livestock production. Do these figures take account of the energy required to get it from the farm gate to the dinner plate? I would say the numbers are understated when taking that into account.

The reasons the government are not doing anything about this are;

1) Ignorance

2) It's not a vote winner

3) It provides a lot of jobs and tax revenues

It will take somewhere like China or India to take the lead, they have already run out of land to farm on and it's their populations changing eating habits that will make or break this.

At the end of the day there simply are not enough resources on the planet for the entire world to eat the standard American diet at American consumption levels so something will give eventually, probably not in our lifetimes.

This contention has come up several times on this forum, but no one has ever provided a source. I took the liberty of doing that for you.

So what is the real issue here? Livestock raising? Hardly. It is merely an indicator of a greater problem, consisting of overpopulation, overconsumption, and wide variations in socio-economic conditions. Affluent nations such as the United States consume up to 30 times more resources per capita than some less affluent nations.

And unfortunately for the sake of the world, there is not likely to be a consensus, much less significant action taken to address these issues in our lifetimes. Wish I could be more optimistic, but affluent people do not generally wish to give up or even slightly adjust a bit of their lifestyles, while poorer peoples do not even have much of a choice but to create any sort of living they can for themselves.

The world only responds significantly and decisively to major crises that impact every person, and one day it will happen. Humans, like all species of life including bacteria, will one day experience an inevitable, abrupt, and enormous population decline.

In the meantime, I will continue to do what I can to reduce my impact on the world, and hope you will do the same.

Because the meat and dairy industry is a billions of dollar a year industry with a powerful lobby.

You might like this article, though:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/07/...

The United Nations recommends all of Europe goes meatless one day a week, with an eventual goal of limiting meat intake by 60% for both environmental and health reasons.

Simple: meat industries just pay money to put it a side. That's y u see it so less.

They are willing to go after car's and other stuff but not the real fact.

Same reason this NY times article offered no sollution to the problem... the industry controls our nation

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/weekinreview/27b...

Heart disease is the #1 killer in the US.Obesity is a associated with heart disease.

Do you really think that is going to make people put the Twinkie down?

Um, it's 18% correct? Is that the number 1? I didn't know that, I knew it was high though.

How's about because meat and dairy consumers think it taste too God damn good.

technically, its overpopulation that causes this. more people = more livestock, gas, electricity, etc.

so if the government were to fix this, they would make everyone stop reproducing and kill off anyone deemed "not good enough"

makes you wonder where the line should be drawn.

The main cause of climate change is too many people all wanting to few resources.

Less people, less pollution.