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Author Topic:   The Three Minute SOAPBOX:
Hyroglyphx
Inactive Member


Message 33 of 73 (474439)
07-08-2008 1:53 PM
Reply to: Message 32 by BMG
07-06-2008 9:58 PM


Re: A Case for Vegetarianism
growing of crops for livestock requires the use of roughly half of our nations water supply and 80% of its agricultural land.
I find this figure impossible to believe. That means farmers pay 80% of the nations water bill? The majority of water being spent in America is most likely on American's showering. That's the 300 million people a day showering anywhere from 5 minutes to an half-an-hour on average. The average output measured in gallons is approximately 5-30 gallons per shower.
Also, the treatment of animals in factory farming is appalling and ignoble.
I agree, which is why I only eat kosher meat. The conditions for the animals is cleaner and healthier, which ultimately is cleaner and healthier for the consumer. The animals are slaughtered far more humanely than non-kosher slaughterhouses which slit the throats of cows to let them bleed to death slowly.
Singer calls this speciesism, and I feel compelled to agree with him.
People like Singer speak about differences as if, one, we're either not supposed to recognize the differences, or two, if we do, we should deny or ignore them. Nobody eats animals for the sake of them being different. That's a very asinine argument and easily refuted by the animals we don't eat, versus the one's we do.
Shifting to global warming, a 2006 UN initiative cited the livestock industry as one of the leading causes of environmental degradation, including air and water pollution, land degradation, global warming, and loss of biodiversity. Animal agriculture is responsible for roughly 18% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, compared to 13.5% from the transportation sector. Nearly 70% of human-related nitrous oxides and 37% of human induced methane are from animal agriculture.
That's kind of funny that you mention that, because the EPA states that livestock themselves offer a substantial increase in methane gases being released in to the atmosphere.
"Among domesticated livestock, ruminant animals (cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, and camels) produce significant amounts of methane as part of their normal digestive processes. In the rumen, or large fore-stomach, of these animals, microbial fermentation converts feed into products that can be digested and utilized by the animal. This microbial fermentation process, referred to as enteric fermentation, produces methane as a by-product, which can be exhaled by the animal. Methane is also produced in smaller quantities by the digestive processes of other animals, including humans, but emissions from these sources are insignificant."
So if we were to allow cows and bulls to roam free unchecked, there populations would skyrocket.
Furthermore, the tons of excrement that are produced from cows pollute lakes, rivers, and groundwater. The overfertilization of crops used for feed is a leading producer of the massive 22,126 square km. Gulf of Mexico dead zone.
Cows are going to excrete waste whether you have them contained and confined to one location, or whether they are roaming the wilderness, crapping in streams till their hearts content. In fact, you're just going to ensure that more of them are on earth excreting wherever they choose.
Your arguments are now becoming extremely specious and asinine. I realize that the ALF aligned with the ELF, but one really doesn't support the other. Your best bet is just to go from the ethical point of view.

“I know where I am and who I am. I'm on the brink of disillusionment, on the eve of bitter sweet. I'm perpetually one step away from either collapse or rebirth. I am exactly where I need to be. Either way I go towards rebirth, for a total collapse often brings a rebirth." -Andrew Jaramillo

This message is a reply to:
 Message 32 by BMG, posted 07-06-2008 9:58 PM BMG has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 34 by kjsimons, posted 07-08-2008 8:23 PM Hyroglyphx has not replied
 Message 38 by NoNukes, posted 12-31-2016 4:23 PM Hyroglyphx has not replied

  
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