cow in a field on a sunny day

50M Farting Cows

ESSAY OF THE WEEK

Read ‘Farting Cows, Factory Farms and the Climate Crisis: We Need a Green New Deal’ by @ronnie_cummins of @OrganicConsumer | Read ‘Farting Cows, Factory Farms and the Climate Crisis: We Need a Green New Deal’ by @ronnie_cummins of @OrganicConsumer | Read the Full Article

Before the Green New Deal (GND) twin resolutions were formally introduced in the U.S. House and Senate, a rough draft memo of talking points—not yet intended for the public—included the following passage:  

We set a goal to get to net-zero, rather than zero emissions, in 10 years because we aren’t sure that we’ll be able to fully get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast, but we think we can ramp up renewable manufacturing and power production, retrofit every building in America, build the smart grid, overhaul transportation and agriculture, plant lots of trees and restore our ecosystem to get to net-zero.

The “farting cows” and “airplanes” comment, taken out of context by GND opponents, set off a media frenzy. Corporate agribusiness and the Trump echo-chamber screeched that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), GND co-sposor and rising star of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, wanted to “take away our hamburgers” and stop everyone from flying on airplanes.

It’s time to set the record straight.

Ronnie’s message this week? Let’s not throw out something as brilliant as the GND just because opponents of the GND deliberately took a passage out of a draft FAQ and distorted its meaning.

Read ‘Farting Cows, Factory Farms and the Climate Crisis: We Need a Green New Deal’

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