Burgers are common food items for most people in the US — surprisingly common. Estimates for the average American diet range from an average of about one per week, or about 50/year (Fast Food Nation) to as many as three burgers per week, or roughly 150/year (the Economist, among other sources). So what’s the global warming impact of all those cheeseburgers? [...]

Overall, the researchers conclude that the total energy use going into a single cheeseburger amounts to somewhere between about 7 and 20 megajoules [...]

the greenhouse gas emissions arising every year from the production and consumption of cheeseburgers is roughly the amount emitted by 6.5 million to 19.6 million SUVs. (source)

Which leads me to another issue. An anti-vegan at another website claimed that she could eat “pounds of factory farmed meat every day” and and have less impact than a vegan who has biological children. She refused to provide any actual evidence but I was curious so I did a bit of research.

First I found this website which says, “If you’re already a vegetarian, you’re saving at least 3,000 pounds of CO₂ per year compared to meat eaters.” The same website lists a variety of ways to cut carbon emissions. None of them include restricting your biological family size.

Another website says, “Cutting back on beefburgers and bacon could wipe $20 trillion off the cost of fighting climate change.” Again, there’s no mention of population control.

The Breathing Earth website, which simulates population growth and CO2 emissions, doesn’t explicitly mention limiting biological family size as a method to stopping climate change. Instead, it says:

The good news is that there are plenty of things that we can do to reduce our carbon footprint. The key word is reduce. We can greatly lessen our impact on climate change by using the planet’s resources more responsibly. There are many things we can reduce, and many ways we can reduce them, but three of the major ones are: reduce the amount of animal products you consume (meat, dairy, eggs, leather, etc.), reduce the amount of fuel you use (car, air travel, etc.), and reduce the amount of electricity you use.

Why doesn’t anyone talk about population control? I think it’s because the decision to have biological children is private, personal, and sensitive. And because having had children can’t be changed. But other climate-reducing habits can be changed. Virtually anyone reading this, regardless of their age or sex or race or class or family size, can reduce or eliminate their consumption of animal products.

On a website where population control is acknowledged as the primary solution to climate change, experts admit that the environmental impact of family size is entirely dependent on the family’s lifestyle:

The Population Fund acknowledges that reducing population growth in developing countries would have little immediate impact on emissions because their inhabitants have relatively small carbon footprints.

It follows then that since vegans already have small carbon footprints, their children will likely also have small carbon footprints.

But none of that is the best reason for going vegan. The best reason for veganism: the animals.

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