WASHINGTON – Reducing the Earth’s greenhouse gas production will not be accomplished by consuming less meat, said a leading air quality expert on Monday in an Agence France-Presse release. Frank Mitloehner, a professor at the University of California-Davis, addressed the environmental impact of meat consumption during a American Chemical Society conference in California.

“Cleaning the Air: Livestock’s Contribution to Climate Change” asserts despite often repeated claims, it is simply not scientifically accurate to blame livestock for climate change. His study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Advances in Agronomy.

Mr. Mitloehner traced a lot of the public confusion regarding meat and milk’s role in climate change to a 2006 United Nations report, titled "Livestock's Long Shadow," which he claims overstates the role livestock play in greenhouse-gas emissions.

Although these statements are not accurate, their wide distribution by the news media have placed everyone on the wrong path toward solutions, Mr. Mitloehner said.

"We certainly can reduce our greenhouse-gas production, but not by consuming less meat and milk… but by increasing efficient meat production in developing countries, where growing populations need more nutritious food,” Mr. Mitloehner said.

To read Mr. Mitloehner’s abstract of the report, click: http://bit.ly/91CYEf