Jim Petersen

About the Author Jim Petersen

Jim Petersen is a co-founder of the non-profit Evergreen Foundation, and publisher of Evergreen, the Foundation’s periodic journal. Evergreen Foundation was established in Medford, Oregon in 1986 to help advance public understanding and support for science based forestry and forest policy. The organization’s original sponsors were all members of the Southern Oregon Timber Industries Association.

Editor's Desk Featured

Felt Necessities: Engines of Forest Policy, Part 5

Jim Petersen, February 7, 2019

This is the fifth part of Felt Necessities: Engines of Forest Policy, a series of essays tracing the history of the conservation movement in the …

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Featured Jim Petersen Speeches

These are the Days!

Jim Petersen, January 25, 2019

Keynote Speech Jim Petersen, Founder and President The Evergreen Foundation Associated California Loggers “Logging: The Next Generation” Annual Meeting Atlantis Spa and Resort Reno, …

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Featured Jim Petersen Speeches

What Do You Want From Your Forest?

Jim Petersen, January 25, 2019

A Speech By James D. Petersen, Founder and President The Evergreen Foundation 40th Annual Forest Vegetation Management Conference “40 Years of Growth” Gaia Hotel and …

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Editor's Desk Featured FIA

FIA: The Gold Standard

Jim Petersen, January 1, 2019

This is the first in a series of in-depth reports exploring the history, contributions and future of FIA – the Forest Inventory and Analysis Program …

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The State Of Our Forests Wildfire

Michael Rains post Camp Fire letter to Trump

Jim Petersen, November 27, 2018

Editor’s Note: Evergreen Readers will be familiar with our colleague, Michael Rains, one of the finest minds the U.S. Forest Service ever employed. Now retired …

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Editor's Desk Featured

Felt Necessities: Engines of Forest Policy, Part 4

Jim Petersen, November 9, 2018

This is the fourth part of Felt Necessities: Engines of Forest Policy, a series of essays tracing the history of the conservation movement in the …

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Editor's Desk Featured

Felt Necessities: Engines of Forest Policy, Part 3

Jim Petersen, October 25, 2018

This is the third part of Felt Necessities: Engines of Forest Policy, a series of essays tracing the history of the conservation movement in the …

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Editor's Desk Featured

Felt Necessities: Engines of Forest Policy, Part 2

Jim Petersen, October 8, 2018

This is the second part of Felt Necessities: Engines of Forest Policy, a series of essays tracing the history of the conservation movement in the …

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Editor's Desk Featured Jim Petersen Speeches

Felt Necessities: Engines of Forest Policy

Jim Petersen, September 17, 2018

Welcome to Felt Necessities: Engines of Forest Policy, a series of essays tracing the history of the conservation movement in the United States, and its …

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Featured Wildfire

#Resistwildfire

Jim Petersen, August 21, 2018

If you have not read the introductory article Rearranging the Deck Chairs on Our Titanic, Click here to be taken to it. It is short …

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"Agriculture and forestry land use in the US currently takes in and captures more carbon than it emits."

By managing soils for healthy crops and raising healthy livestock, soil can hold water, nutrients and capture carbon. As per the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), agriculture and forestry land use in the US currently takes in and captures more carbon than it emits.

Let that soak in….I have two burgers. The one on your left is a beef burger from McDonald’s and the other on the right is a Beyond Meat, plant-based protein burger from A&W.

You’ve been told by companies, groups and the media to choose; to eat less meat because one is better for the environment, and we’ve been led to believe that by picking one over the other, we’re doing our part in climate change and being more environmentally-friendly.

What if I told you that both burgers are doing their part and all agriculture is part of the solution, not the problem? What if I told you it’s not one versus the other when it comes to climate change? What if I told you there is more to the story than these companies are sharing?

To let you know, my family and I grow lentils. I’m grateful demand has grown for this tiny seed jammed packed with protein. I don’t raise cattle but have friends who do and am grateful for all they do to also raise nutrient-dense food.

All of agriculture, both the plant protein and the beef burger are doing their part when it comes to climate change. Agriculture in Canada accounts for 8% of total emissions, and cattle contribute less than half of that at 2.4%. But did you know the largest sources of emissions were transportation at 28%? Why are we blaming cows, dairy and meat so much?

Contrary to recent headlines, giving up meat won’t save the climate or even make a significant difference to climate change. According to the University of California, Davis, if Americans were to eat the plant-based burger instead of the beef burger on Meatless Monday every week for a year it would only be a reduction of 0.3% in emissions. If I were to go full vegan for a year, I would reduce 0.8 tonnes of greenhouse gases.

Is that 0.8 tonnes a huge difference? Not as much as you might want it to be. One round trip flight from the US to Europe emits 1.6 tonnes so a whole year of reducing meat in your diet has only half the impact of a single transatlantic flight.

Removing animals from agriculture would lower greenhouse gases to a small degree but there’s unintended consequences if we removed them completely. There’s a really great story when it comes to agriculture’s environmental footprint missing from those headlines and trying to get you to choose sides.

One part of that solution is right under our nose….literally. It’s in the soil. By managing soils for healthy crops and raising healthy livestock, soil can hold water, nutrients and capture carbon. As per the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), agriculture and forestry land use in the US currently takes in and captures more carbon than it emits.

Whoa….what?

–The Agriculture and Forestry sectors combined are capturing more carbon in the atmosphere than they are putting out. —

These headlines aren’t sharing agriculture is doing our part. In the past, our lentil fields would be ploughed so all you would see every other year would be soil and some weeds. But by growing a crop and minimally disturbing the soil by direct seeding, lentils take greenhouse gases out of the air, create nitrogen and then put nitrogen back into the soil. It’s like nature’s way of fertilizing the crop for next year and capturing carbon.

But not all land is suitable for growing crops. Only 3.2% of Canada’s land can be used for growing crops , but cattle can inhabit and graze nonarable land. Pastureland used for grazing cattle in Canada removes greenhouse gases and stores the emissions of 3.62 million cars per year. Raising cattle has many environmental benefits such as soil replenishment, nutrient recycling, preservation of natural grasslands, and improving biodiversity and wildlife habitat. It’s pretty incredible that cattle can upcycle land, which is otherwise unproductive to humans, into protein-rich food for families while returning benefits to the land.

These are just a couple of examples out of so many more of farmers and ranchers helping be more environmentally friendly and efficient. Whether we grow crops or raise livestock, we care about the soil and environment.

We know we have more work to do but we have been working hard at being more efficient, doing our part and being part of the solution.

There is always more to the story than the click-bait headlines. When you read or hear about “Eat Less Meat to Save the Planet” or have to choose between a plant-based or a meat burger, please remember and know that there are farmers and ranchers behind the scenes doing their best to save the planet too.

I appreciate that we get the choice of how to farm and you get so many choices in the grocery store and at restaurants. For me, I’ll always choose the beef burger.

Sources:

National Inventory Report, 2016; CRSB, 2016

www.agr.gc.ca/eng/science-and-innovation/agricultural-practices/climate-change-and-agriculture/ag…

www.wri.org/blog/2019/08/7-things-know-about-ipcc-special-report-land-and-climate

www.carbonbrief.org/in-depth-qa-the-ipccs-special-report-on-climate-change-and-land

www.beefresearch.ca/resources/images.cfm

sustainablesociety.com/environment/land-use

www.alltech.com/features-podcast-blog/frank-mitloehner-cattle-climate-change-and-methane-myth

caes.ucdavis.edu/news/articles/2016/04/livestock-and-climate-change-facts-and-fiction … See MoreSee Less

8 hours ago ·

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Felt Necessities: Engines of Forest Policy, Part 7

Burning an Empire: NAFSR’s Letter to Secretary Purdue and Workforce Capacity Study

Maybe They Should Shoot Smokey, Too

About the Author Jim Petersen

February 28, 2019 Ivan Doig Walked These Halls: FIA’s Portland, Oregon Roots

March 5, 2019 No Mill, No Market, No Forest: No. 2 (2016)

March 5, 2019 No Mill, No Market, No Forest (2004)

March 5, 2019 The American Revolution Is Still Going On (2006)

February 17, 2019 The Story of Evergreen

Felt Necessities: Engines of Forest Policy, Part 5

These are the Days!

What Do You Want From Your Forest?

FIA: The Gold Standard

Michael Rains post Camp Fire letter to Trump

Felt Necessities: Engines of Forest Policy, Part 4

Felt Necessities: Engines of Forest Policy, Part 3

Felt Necessities: Engines of Forest Policy, Part 2

Felt Necessities: Engines of Forest Policy

#Resistwildfire