The easiest way to reduce carbon emissions from cattle and other livestock is to eat less meat. Perhaps by adhering to a Meatless Monday! But in lieu of a widespread reduction in the consumption of meat, it is always nice to hear that scientists are thinking creatively about ways to cut down on livestock emissions.

According to Norimitsu Onishi of the The New York Times in an article entitled “Trying to Stop Cow Burps from Heating Up Planet,” scientists are studying the stomachs and eating habits of kangaroos in an effort to come up with ways to tinker with the diet of farmed cows to reduce the methane in their burps. Onishi explains, “At any given point, after munching and regurgitating grass, tens of millions of Australian cattle, as well as sheep, are belching methane gases nonstop into the air.” Because methane is considered to be significantly more effective than carbon dioxide in accelerating global warming, the Australian meat industry is pumping $24 million into research efforts to reduce the environmental impact of large-scale animal production. And, “while cattle belch enormous amounts of methane to digest the food, kangaroos release virtually none.”

But, like the conservationists that Onishi refers to in the article, I can’t help but wonder whether it is a good idea to manipulate cattle feed – and perhaps even the cows themselves – to make them more like kangaroos. Or whether eating more kangaroo meat (?!) as suggested in the article by kangaroo harvester Sharyn Garrett is an acceptable solution. I’ll stick to reducing my meat intake altogether, thank you very much!

Source: Pays to Live Green

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