Op-ed: Big Ag Touts Its Climate Strengths, While Awash in Fossil Fuels | Civil Eats
Most of America’s farms are dependent on prodigious amounts of fossil fuels at every stage of production. Powerful PR firms have worked overtime in recent years to craft a narrative that highlight farms’ potential role in mitigating climate change, but the truth is that agriculture consumes 6 percent of the world’s fossil fuel energy, and the oil and gas industries rely on industrial agriculture for one of its largest and most lucrative markets.
6%. And feeds 100% of the world’s population, growing plants which consume CO2.
He blames agriculture for using petrochemicals such as nitrate fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides.
The author of the above is an attorney and environmentalist that runs EarthJustice. He has an AB degree in philosophy and Math from Harvard, and a JD from Columbia University. He lives in New York City. There is no indication he’s lived or worked in agriculture or in agricultural areas. He eats food.
How do we electrify farm vehicles that, during harvest season, may run 18 hours per day, and may be miles from the nearest power lines?
How many people must experience “food insecurity” by dramatically increasing the price of food and potentially decreasing the supply of food in order to lower global temperatures?
