Weird to be discussing SR and CO2 like this, but no matter. The stopping deforestation argument is a strong one, in my view, irrespective of our eating habits. Thanks for reminding me, because I really should support the cause more actively than I do, and I'm going to spend some time looking into my charities and do more soon. I don't know about anyone else, but it's easy to get carried away with the arguments and not do more.
It's also easy to argue about whether this strategy is better than that, so that we can avoid doing either. It's easy for us to worry about whether we should be turning lights off (sorry for the tongue-in-cheek dig at Vegas, but how much energy is that place burning for no
good reason at all 24/7) or changing our cars, diets, political party, charities... instead of doing as much as we can in every area of our lives. "As much as we can" is, for us mortals, a moveable feast (vegan, of course)
- or we'd not have our computers on long enough to be discussing it - but we'd also not consume anything ever and die after spending a week in the dark. We find a balance that's manageable for us.
I do wonder, though, given the west's addiction to oil, whether some of the meat-is-killing-the-planet fervour is misdirected. It could be easier to give up meat than driving your car, for instance. It could also be better to find ways to stop deforestation as a direct intention rather than thinking "If I do this, that will follow". There could be, for instance, great incentives for loggers to continue to log, but find another crop if burgers aren't in fashion anymore.
I'm a mostly-veggie, by the way. I've recently cut down on fish due to the environmental impact it has, and also because when I have it less often I appreciate it more.
One thing I think is really good is to see the global climate crisis not just as a technical problem to fix (though that's great if we can!), but also a personal lesson about the destructiveness of exercising
power over, our addiction to the growth principle (population and economical growth), the importance of balance and sustainability, and the respect we should regain for Power(s) Greater Than Us (Gaia, God, Universe, Nature, or whatever). There's an inner personal change that we can make, that makes putting a banana-skin in the compost bin, or not having that second cup of coffee, or a host of other little daily acts real rituals of Devotion and Atonement before That Which Sustains. They become acts of inner personal growth, soul over ego. Maybe Gaia smiles, maybe she doesn't, but I find I'm more comfortable walking on her face when I bother to treat her kindly.
And the hard, scientific objection that that's all gooey new age nonsense is the most arrogant defence of all, and largely what has brought us to this crisis. Just looking for technical ways off the hook is bound to leave us no better off morally, we would not have learned the lesson at all, and could backfire.