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Re:American energy use by the_gastropod on Monday May 08, 2017 @12:10PM (#14292874)
It's weird how infrequently Agriculture is ever mentioned when talking about CO2 emissions. Transportation is _always_ brought up, but agriculture (which is responsible for significantly more greenhouse gas emissions) is conveniently left out.
Re:American energy use by philipkglass on Monday May 08, 2017 @12:58PM (#14293389)
According to the EPA, as of 2015 agriculture is responsible for 9% of American GHG emissions and transportation is 27%.

https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emis...

Maybe you're thinking of the global level, where agriculture is comparable to transportation and the IPCC grouping "agriculture, forestry, and other land use" (AFOLU) is greater:

https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg3/ipcc_wg3_a...

I would venture that the reason that latter figure doesn't come up much in American policy discussions is because American policies can do a lot more about American transportation emissions than American policies can do about foreign agriculture or deforestation.

Re:American energy use by podiki on Monday May 08, 2017 @04:12PM (#14295154)
The US also imports quite a bit of food (I'm not finding a definitive figure right now, but seeing 15% in several places), so that complicates the calculation a bit. Also, you'd want to see a breakdown of how much transportation comes from agricultural activities as well, to get a better idea of the full picture.

Still, agriculture is a big player no matter how you cut it, and your own eating habits are a lot easier to control than overall policy or law changes (and probably even your transportation, given the strong need for cars).

Re:American energy use by sirbearington on Monday May 08, 2017 @07:43PM (#14296592)
The US is a net exporter of food.
Re:American energy use by podiki on Tuesday May 09, 2017 @04:59PM (#14303759)
For a US consumer making choices and understanding the impact of what they eat that doesn't matter, what matters is what ends up on the plate. A ton of exports ends up as feed for animals, which can then be re-imported as well.
Re:American energy use by the_gastropod on Monday May 08, 2017 @02:55PM (#14294457)
Yea, I was thinking of the global level. Focusing on US policy is a fair point. There are definitely things the US can do to address deforestation internationally, but maybe it's a more difficult task than focusing on domestic transportation.
Re:American energy use by elihu on Monday May 08, 2017 @02:37PM (#14294308)
Also, where does the Department of Defense fit in this diagram? Are they lumped in with other energy users, or are they left out entirely?