By Dr. Richard A. Oppenlander Langdon Street Press, 2011 Review
by Karen Davis, PhD, President of United Poultry Concerns News
of how our consumer choices and commercial industries are
affecting our planet has made terms like fossil fuel, carbon
footprint, greenhouse gases and global warming commonplace.
Carbon dioxide is most commonly associated with global warming,
but in Comfortably Unaware, Dr. Richard Oppenlander argues that
while it’s important to minimize CO2 emissions from cars and
industry, “the single most devastating factor that affects
global warming and our environment is caused by what you eat.”
Methane and nitrous oxide, he says, “are much more powerful than
carbon dioxide as greenhouse gases.” These treacherous gases
enter the atmosphere mainly through the flatulence and manure of
the 65 billion land animals who are now being raised for food –
a number that could double by 2050. Global warming is one
component of global depletion. Comfortably Unaware insists that
animal agriculture, including