EATING LESS MEAT...LIKE DRIVING A PRIUS

An advantages of retirement is that one can read stuff others have little time to consider. One issue that is increasingly concerning me is the rising cost of energy. I believe this will be a critical issue over the next decade. The cost of oil and natural gas will continue to increase as will electricity supplies from coal burning power stations. Even though coal is plentiful, stricter regulation of emissions will lead to this becoming more expensive to use.

Faced with increasing cost and diminishing resources energy conservation seems a smart wayto do. Many possible actions lead to less use of energy... from simply using energy efficient light bulbs through to building energy efficient houses or making existing homes more energy efficient. Huge amounts of energy go to heating or cooling homes according to season.

Some things we can do arise in unexpected quarters. Consider the NY Times article 'Rethinking The Meat Guzzler' I pointed your attention to recently:
"Americans eat about the same amount of meat as we have for some time, about eight ounces a day, roughly twice the global average. At about 5 percent of the world’s population, we “process” (that is, grow and kill) nearly 10 billion animals a year, more than 15 percent of the world’s total."
This article quotes an estimate "...that 2.2 pounds of beef is responsible for the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the average European car every 155 miles, and burns enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for nearly 20 days." Another problem with over-consumption of meat is that this puts pressure on water use, as meat production requires about ten times as much water, calorie for calorie, compared by eating grains directly. Moreover, production of meat via feedlots is the cause of three quarters of water pollution in the US.

It seems that Americans are energy hogs in relation to food as much as we are with the use of cars. Australians and Canadians are not far behind. One thing to do is to eat less meat. A major side benefit of this would be that we would thereby be healthier.