Holy Cow! Sacred Beef Takes Backseat In Climate Debate
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden 
on 03.18.08
Swedish investigative program Uppdrag Granskning (UG) figured out a curious fact: for all its squeaky-clean posture on climate efforts (oil-free by 2020, yeah) Sweden has left out of its position papers one very large emitter - beef cows.
While it is accepted knowledge among enviro-types that eating less meat is a clear way to reduce carbon footprint and CO2 emissions, Swedes (and all of Europe) seem to have left it out of its top 10 ideas for reducing emissions, concentrating efforts instead on transport - still a worthy endeavor to be sure. In UG's reckoning, each Swedish car, driven an average of around 10,000 kilometers, puts out the same amount of CO2 as the average cow does in methane (100 kilo). No political party leader is ready to subsidize less meat eating...at least not yet. Approval of a climate label for food in Sweden (the label's rules will go for a first round of approval by the Minister of Agriculture next month) will start to give shoppers an idea of the climate effect of what's in their carts. Food climate researcher Annika-Carlsson Kanyama says if Swedes are thinking to eat beef to keep Swedish landscapes open (a common folk "myth") than their allotment each week equals just 400 grams. Via: Uppdrag Granskning (Swedish)
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