Washington (CAR) Analysis | August 10, 2023 by Climate Journalist Noreen Wise; Image Credit: AdobeStock

What we eat is quickly becoming a frontline battle in our effort to stay below 1.5ºC. The US food system amounts to 9 gigatons of CO2e (GtC) each year, roughly 15 percent of the annual greenhouse gases emitted in the US. This is more than the greenhouse gas pollutants of the entire transportation industry, including every car, bus, train, and plane that relies on fossil fuel. At the center of the heated debate, about what we can put in our mouths to lower our food system CO2e, is the cow.