According to a 2006 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, what we eat is actually more important that what or how much we drive. It states that animal-based agriculture causes approximately 18% of greenhouse gas emissions, which lead to global warming, an amount greater than that caused by all forms of transportation on the planet combined (about 13.5%).
According to Dr. Richard Schwartz, over 70% of the grain grown in the United States is channeled to livestock. The land use practices of the meat industry generally lead to overuse of fuel and water, degrade the land and pollute the water around it, contributing to additional environmental and health problems.
Furthermore, Dr. Schwartz claims that an animal-based diet uses energy very inefficiently. It requires 78 calories of fossil fuel for each calorie of protein obtained from feedlot-produced beef, but only 2 calories of fossil fuel to produce a calorie of protein from soybeans. Grains and beans require only 2 - 5% as much fossil fuel as beef. The energy needed to produce a pound of grain-fed beef is equivalent to one gallon of gasoline.
