In the age of information, it’s often difficult to filter facts from noise. In this episode of Elanco’s Rediscovering the Power of Healthy Animals podcast with Michelle Calvo-Lorenzo and Sarah Place, CLEAR Center Director, Frank Mitloehner, debunks common misconceptions around livestock and greenhouse gas emissions.

California is taking bold steps in the fight against climate change implementing laws and policies, such as the Cap-and-Trade program, designed to drastically cut down on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In the last decade, the Golden State has introduced several new bills, including Assembly Bill 32, Senate Bill 32 and SB 1383, and has been successfully working towards meeting the greenhouse gas mitigation goals outlined in these bills.  

Here’s what you need to know: 

Does eating beef in the U.S. lead to deforestation in places such as the Amazon? That’s an increasingly common question, to which the short answer is no.

But let’s dive into the long answer.

It sounds counterintuitive, but new research is pointing to the fact that instead of merely heating up our atmosphere with the potent gas methane, cows might actually be able to help fight climate change. It all has to do with what happens to methane after it enters the atmosphere, and with the advances American farmers and ranchers have made in the past 70 years.

When animals are criticized for the part they play in climate change, most often it’s the cattle that take it on the chin. While beef and other products that come from cattle are popular in the United States and abroad, what cattle are often singled out for is the result of a digestive system that differs from those of poultry and swine, two other favorite sources of protein. 

Perhaps more helpful than asking if meat is bad for the planet is engaging in a dialogue about the effect meat and dairy production have on the environment and what the downside and significant upside of animal agriculture are all about.

Methane (CH4) is a gas composed of carbon and hydrogen. It’s a highly flammable gas that is colorless and odorless. In fact, when there was a major methane leak in Southern California in 2016, the leak could only be seen using a special camera.