Last Monday’s meeting of the BCSEA was billed as “Getting to Zero Carbon: What’s Meat Got To Do With It?” but there was in the end little discussion of meat. Instead the speaker, Dr. Peter Carter, spent most of the time building the case for removing meat from our diets by updating us on climate change research.

According to the FAO report (Livestock’s Long Shadow), meat production accounts for 18% of greenhouse gases. The World Watch Institute (in State of the World 2009: Into a Warming World) upped the figure to 50% (although it was pointed out that there were a great many errors in this report and many have discounted its findings).

A point made repeatedly was the urgency of the situation: even going to zero carbon right now will not stop the climactic damage, but zero carbon is the only way to slow it. Carbon trading (cap & trade) will not work; only a carbon tax will.

Carter’s key observations on meat specifically were on a slide that identified three aspects of meat production which produced three different greenhouse gases:

• Methane – CH4 – from livestock digestive processes;
• Nitrous Oxide – N2O- from manure (and synthetic fertilizer used to produce feed);
• Carbon Dioxide – CO2 – from the slaughter industry (with its demands on heat and hot water; CO2 gas may also be used to stun pigs before slaughter) and deforestation (to create cereal cropping to feed livestock)

We had some helpful refreshers on several of the greenhouse gases. Methane is one of the most damaging of greenhouse gases, causing 100% more heating than carbon dioxide, and lasting 12 years in the atmosphere. Nitrous oxide has an atmospheric lifetime of approximately 120 years and has a heat-trapping effect which is about 310 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide’s atmospheric lifetime is apparently very difficult to pin down because from the air it moves into the ocean (causing ocean warming and acidification which are at unprecedented levels of increase). He mentioned as well the enduring presence of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) (most commonly from refrigerants, solvents, and foam blowing agents) which are implicated in ozone layer depletion as well as climate change, and which also have lengthy lifespan (tens to hundreds of years depending on which source you consult).

Regarding the skeptics’ assertion that global warming is a myth because of a decade’s worth of low average temperatures, he pointed out that underlying this is a common mistake: confusing temperature with climate. The climate as a whole is warming despite a 10 year blip in temperatures; the ocean, which tempers climate, has incontrovertably continued to warm. (We’d also heard at an earlier BCSEA talk that although 10 year dips have been seen through the earth’s history, dips of longer than 10 years have not. And were reminded that climate change is not a gentle, steady warming, but presents as a drastic climactic change that produces unpredictable and extreme weather, which we are seeing now.)

Another concern Carter raised was the release of greenhouse gases that had been stored within the earth and ocean. In the Arctic, massive methane deposits (four times more than is currently in the atmosphere) have been held in permafrost, which is of course at risk of melting. If/when this happens, global temperature rises would be accelerated at unpredictable rates. There is as well methane on the ocean floor, which is being released by global warming.

In conclusion… Carter’s suggestion was to stop eating meat right now and forever. But he didn’t have the time or space to say how to do that: what happens to the livestock currently out there on the hoof? An overnight global elimination of meat-eating is unthinkable; and what would we replace it with? Would we carry on clearing rainforest to grow GM soya for human consumption? And how would we alter our growing practices to avoid releasing more greenhouse gases?

The idea of global vegetarianism is an intriguing one but would call for a complete reconstruction of food and agricultural practices worldwide, which doesn’t give nature its due either, since a new diet needs to be grown, harvested, processed and distributed.

Missing, too, was any analysis of the difference in emissions between industrial production vs. small-scale farms where animals are integrated into overall crop management as well as providing protein products (including the Duck-Rice project and Joel Salatin’s ideas).

So, the talk was great for outlining the problem, but fell short on considered solutions. But certainly, it would not hurt those of us who have the power to act to reduce our meat consumption drastically while that solution is being formulated. And so here we are: a good day to celebrate with a Meatless (and Meat-Free) Monday!

If you were wondering why it seems we have no free press in this country, the point was driven home with even more force than usual when I received a notice from the Writers Union of Canada, regarding the Heather Robertson legal action against the unlicensed use of works by the Thomson Group.

The suit, which has dragged on through Canadian courts since 1996, and has finally resulted in a settlement, “concerns media outlets that reproduced the work of freelance writers and artists on electronic databases without consent or additional compensation.”(Deadline for claims is 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on January 18, 2010 by the way, unless a requested extension is granted; more details on the Cole & Partners website.)

The length of the list is staggering. It would have been easier, I think, for them to send out a list of titles that were not owned by Thomson. Here’s the first list they sent out, which consists of titles affected by virtue of inclusion on a searchable database; and here following is the supplementary list:

Dailies
Toronto Star
The Hamilton Spectator
The Record
Guelph Mercury
METROLAND TITLES
Weekly
Acton Free Press
Ajax News Advertiser
Alliston Herald
Almaguin Forester
Almaguin News
Almonte Gazette
Ancaster News
Annex Guardian
Anrnprior Chronicle-Guide & Weekender
Arthur Enterprise News
Aurora Era-Banner
Barrhaven Weekender
Barrie Advance
Beach Mirror
Bloor West Villager
Blue Mountains Courier Herald
Bobcaygeon Independent
Bracebridge Examiner
Bradford West Gwillimbury Topic
Brampton Guardian
Brock Citizen
Burlington Post
Caledon/Bolton Enterprise
Cambridge Times
Canadian Statesman
Carleton Place Canadian
City Centre Moment
Clarington This Week
Collingwood/Wasaga Connection
Dundas Star News
Dunnville Sachern
East York Mirror
Elmira Independent
Erin Advocate
Etobicoke Guardian
Etobicoke Guardian Apartment & Condominium Edition
Exeter Times Advocate
Fenelon Falls Gazette
Fergus-Elora News Express
Flamborough Review
Georgetown Independent
Georgina Advocate
Glanbrook Gazette
Grand River Sachem
Gravenhurst Banner
Grimsby Lincoln News
Guelph Tribune
Haldimand Sachem
Hamilton Mountain News
Huntsville Forester
Innisfil Journal
Iroquois Chieftain
Kanata Kourier Standard
Kawartha Lakes This Week
Kemptville Advance-Accent Weekender
Listowel Banner
Manotick Review
Markham Economist & Sun
Meaford Express
Midland/Penetanguishene Mirror
Milton Canadian Champion
Minto Express
Mississauga Booster
Mississauga News
Mississauga This Week
Mississippi Weekender
Mount Forest Confederate
Muskoka Sun
Muskoka Weekender
Muskokan
Nepean This Week & Weekender
New Hamburg Independent
Newmarket Era-Banner
Niagara This Week
North York Mirror
Northumberland News
Oakville Beaver
Oakville Today
Orangeville Banner
Orillia Today
Oshawa This Week
Ottawa South Weekender
Parry Sound Beacon Star
Parry Sound North Star
Perth Courier & Weekender
Peterborough This Week
Pickering News Advertiser
Port Colborne Leader
Port Perry Star
Renfrew Mercury & Weekender
Richmond Hill Liberal
Riverdale Mirror
Scarborough Mirror Apartment & Condominium Edition
Smith Falls This Week
St. Mary’s Journal Argus
Stayner Sun
Stoney Creek News
Stouffville Sun & Tribune
Stratford City Gazette
Stittsville News & Weekender
Thornbury Courier-Herald
Thornhill Liberal
Uxbridge Times Journal
Vaughan Citizen
Walkerton-Herald Times
Wasaga Sun
Waterloo Chronicle
West Carleton Review
Whitby This Week
Wingham Advance-Times
York Guardian
BLACK PRESS TITLES
Alberta
Red Deer Advocate (PD)
The Stettler Independent
The Castor Advance
Bashaw Star
Rocky Mountain Outlook
Ponoka News
British Columbia
Lower Mainland
Abbotsford News
Agaassiz Observer
Aldergrove Star
Bowen Island Undercurrent
Burnaby/New West News Lewader
Business Examiner Fraser Valley
Chilliwack Progress
Hope Standard
Langley Times
Maple ridge News
Mission City Record
North Shore Outlook
Peace Arch News
Richmond Review
Sought Delta Leader
Surrey Leader
The Tri-City News
WestEnder
Vacouver Island
Alberni Valley News
Business Examiner
Campbell River Mirror
Courtenay Commox Valley Record
Duncan News Leader and Pictorial
Goldstream News Gazette
Ladysmith Chronicle
Lake Cowichan Gazette
Monday Magazine
Nanaimo News Bulletin
North Island Gazette
North Island Midweek
Oak Bay News
Parksville Qualicum News
Peninsula News Review
Saanich News
Sooke News Mirror
Victoria News
Real Estate Victoria
BC Interior North & South
100 Mile House Free Press
Arrow Lakes News
Ashcroft Cache Creek Journal
Barriere Star Journal
Burns Lakes District News
Castlegar News
Clearwater Times
Fort Saint James Courier
Golden Star
Houston Today
Invermere Valley Echo
Kamloops This Week
Kelowna Capital News
Kitimat Sentinel
Kootenay News Advertiser
Kootenay Western Star
Merritt Herald
Northern Connector
Penticton Western News
Prince George Free Press
Quesnel Cariboo Observer
Revelstoke Times Review
Salmon Arm Lakeshore News
Salmon Arm Observer
Sicamous Eagle Valley News
Similkameen Spotlight
Smithers Interior News
Summerland Review
Terrace Standard
The Northern View
Trail Rossland News
Vanderhoof Omineca Express
Vernon Morning Star
Winfield Lake Country Calendar
Williams Lake Tribune
Wine Trails

The Government of BC is seeking public input on cosmetic use of pesticides as they consider whether to ban pesticides in BC; email form makes it easy at the Canadian Cancer Society website.

Screenings of A Chemical Reaction – documentary about community action against pesticides and cancer – is being sponsored by the Canadian Cancer Society. Here’s the trailer, followed by two screening times. I think the book that’s being signed might be Paul Tukey’s Organic Lawn Care Manual. But I’m not sure.

VANCOUVER
Jan. 20 — 7 p.m.
(doors open at 6:30)
Park Theatre
3440 Cambie Street
Admission by donation
Book signing
For more information, contact:
Kathryn Seely, Canadian Cancer Society
kseely@bc.cancer.ca or
604-675-7108

VICTORIA
Jan. 21 — 7 p.m.
(doors open at 6:30)
David Lam Auditorium
University of Victoria
Admission by donation
Book signing to follow
For more information, contact:
Nancy Falconer
nfalconer@bc.cancer.ca
or 250-380-2358

On a final sad note, we in BC – and everywhere her poetry touched – are mourning the loss of our lovely poet PK Page, whose poem Planet Earth sparked much admiration, and a frenzy of glosas in this part of the world.