Cutting meat consumption does have a massive impact on an individual's carbon footprint, it cannot be denied, but the difference in the contribution of individual vs industry is enormous. I know it's a nice to think, "We can all make a difference!" but really, the kind of shift we need demands effective industry regulation and oversight. The government is supposed to represent the people, and without regulation industry pollutes and enslaves as much as it wants. Unfortunately, this is what "the people" voted for - the unregulated race for profit. Cutting "red tape." Unadulterated capitalism. Pure greed. A disaster.
It is quite a mental leap to twist the US pulling out of the Paris Agreement as a 'good thing.' I think it's a meaningless thing, honestly. There have been many agreements made in the past, and no country has made efforts to meet targets anyway. It's just a first class ticket and fancy dinners for our overpaid politicians, wining and dining and making empty promises about a future they won't be involved in while they plan to collect enormous pensions and tell us all to tighten our belts.
I believe we crossed the point of no return for climate change quite a few years ago, and with the permafrost melt releasing unfathomable amounts of methane, we best channel our resources into preparing our infrastructure and agriculture for the deleterious effects of climate change that is now irreversible, instead of hoping that everyone stops eating McDonalds and pretending that any country gives a crap about climate change. All these agreements are cynical virtue signaling to their ecologically concerned voter base, not binding contracts.
Thanks for the input. Im a little more optimistic ;)
Yeah... I've got the depression =(