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Climate One

Cow Poop and Compost: Digesting the Methane Menace

Climate One

Climate One

Social Sciences, News Commentary, Science, Earth Sciences, News

4.7585 Ratings

🗓️ 25 February 2022

⏱️ 55 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In a 20-year time frame, methane is 80 times more damaging to the climate than carbon dioxide. Nationally, 37% of methane emissions come from cows. 17% of all US methane emissions come from food waste rotting in landfills. More than 100 countries, including the US, signed The Global Methane Pledge, promising to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030.  In California, a new law went into effect directly addressing the state’s methane emissions from organic waste and dairy farms. The law targets a 40% reduction in the same time frame. That’s ambitious. What effect will this law have on industrial agriculture, and the general population?   Guests: Neil Edgar, Executive Director, California Compost Coalition J Jordan, Policy Coordinator, Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability Michael Boccadoro, Executive Director, Dairy Cares Monique Figueiredo, Chief Executive Officer / Founder / Co-Owner, Compostable LA Allen Williams, Understanding Ag Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Olivia Culpo here to tell you all about the launch of the new Abercrombie spring denim collection,

0:05.5

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0:11.4

styles, and washes. Every jean is available in both their classic fit and viral curve love.

0:17.5

Shop in the app, online, and in stores. love.

0:29.7

Hi, it's Greg Dalton.

0:34.1

I'd like to hear your comments on the show, topics we should cover, and guest suggestions.

0:37.2

You can reach me at Greg at climate one.org.

0:43.8

This is Climate One. I'm Greg Dalton. Today, Arianna Brocious and I are digging into compost and cow poop. Yeah, manure really matters because nationally, 37% of methane emissions come from cows.

0:51.6

A lot of that is actually cow burps, which we'll get into later,

0:55.0

but a big chunk is cow poop.

0:57.0

Right, and not just manure. Landfills release a lot of methane too. In fact, 17% of all

1:03.0

U.S. methane emissions come from landfills, and most of that is from food waste.

1:08.0

In a 20-year time frame, methane has 80 times more warming power to the

1:12.3

climate than carbon dioxide. California has a new law that aims to tackle methane from these two

1:17.7

main sources, cows and landfills. We're spending today's show talking about it because California

1:23.2

has a track record of setting national policy, or at least leading by example.

1:28.3

Last year at COP 26 in Glasgow, more than 100 countries, including the U.S., signed the

1:33.3

Methane Pledge, promising to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030.

1:38.6

The California law targets a 40% reduction in the same time frame, so it's ambitious.

1:44.1

It is, and the more I learn about this law known as Senate Bill 1380s, a 40% reduction in the same time frame. So it's ambitious.

1:44.9

It is.

1:51.7

And the more I learn about this law known as Senate Bill 1383 or SB 1383, the more interesting and complicated it gets.

...

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