Written by: Karim Hammam
A new research study has revealed strategies used by the main livestock industry lobbying group in the United States to treat the issue of climate change as a public relations crisis rather than addressing it as a real environmental crisis.
Attempts to obscure methane emissions
Researcher Jennifer Jacquet, from the University of Miami, and her colleague Loredana Loy documented, in a research paper published in the journal PLOS Climate, a series of instances in which the National Cattlemen's Association (NCA)—now known as the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA)—attempted to suppress scientific messages and distort facts related to the climate impact of livestock farming.
The findings indicated that the industry was fully aware of its climate impacts long before public awareness of them, but worked to obstruct policies and campaigns aimed at reducing emissions and consumption.
The impact of consumption on reducing emissions
The researchers' calculations showed that reducing per capita meat consumption in the US by 50% could have been up to 80 times more effective in reducing methane emissions compared to all efforts made to curb methane from the oil and gas industry over a 30-year period, starting from the early 1990s.
Estimates indicate that livestock produce about a third of total human-caused methane emissions and are considered the largest source of these emissions within the United States.
Media confrontation strategies
The industry's strategies included attempts to counter books and messages calling for reduced meat consumption for environmental and health reasons, as the association in the 1990s requested the assistance of researchers to refute scientific arguments linking livestock farming to global warming.
According to the research, the industry's plans focused on managing public perception, as the Changing Markets Foundation described these tactics as investing millions in strategic communications to try to repair the public image rather than investing in viable climate solutions.
