CNN had an article about cows being bad for the environment: - Page 6 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

Xist · 11-09-2017, 11:02 AM

"Growing rice emits methane, a potent greenhouse gas — to the tune of 25 million to 100 million metric tons of methane every year"
"When rice paddies are flooded, methane-producing bacteria thrive on the carbohydrates secreted by rice roots in the oxygen-free soils."
A new type of GMO rice seems to produce less than 10% as much methane--but GMOs are evil!
GMO rice could reduce greenhouse gas emissions, study says - LA Times

Ecky gave the statistic that cows produce 70 - 120kg of methane per year. There are 1.5 Billion cows, so 10.5 - 180 metric tons of methane--roughly as much as rice paddies.

cRiPpLe_rOoStEr · 11-12-2017, 09:10 AM

I'm not 100% favorable to GMOs due to the "terminator" gene that prevents farmers from growing their own seeds, and the polen of transgenic plants with that gene eventually contaminates a conventional plantation. Other than that, I'm actually more favorable than disfavorable to them.

freebeard · 11-12-2017, 12:39 PM

Typically, inhumane corporations take a promising tech like GMOs and use it first to create pesticide resistance and spread it through the plant populations.

Fat Charlie · 11-13-2017, 09:23 AM

And that's the root of anti-GMO sentiment. GMO can be great, but the people who care more about monetizing a product than anything else are despicable.

cRiPpLe_rOoStEr · 11-13-2017, 10:49 PM

For me, the only matter of concern is the contamination of non-transgenic crops with the genetically-modified pollen, which may render local farmers unable to grow their own seeds and then having to source them from a few companies. From a food safety standpoint, it's very dangerous to eliminate the gene pool of traditional varieties of certain crops (especially corn) that have been around for a long time.