They really are. The Times of London has more.

British scientists are fighting climate change by reducing the harmful greenhouse gases produced by flatulent cows. Researchers claim that by altering the diet of cows they can cut the animals� emissions of methane -� a contributor to global warming -� by up to 70%....a study by French scientists published this year warned that flatulent farm animals must shoulder some of the blame. There are 1.4 billion cows worldwide, each producing 500 litres of methane a day and accounting for 14% of all emissions of the gas....methane has 23 times the warming potential of CO2 so reducing its emission is also considered important.

...scientists at the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen say they have developed a diet that has done the most to reduce the amount of methane produced by cows. They introduced a food additive, a mixture of organic sugars and a bacterium developed at the institute, into the cows� diet. It is based on fumaric acid, a naturally occurring chemical essential to respiration of animal and vegetable tissues.

�In some experiments we got a 70% decrease in methane emissions, which is quite staggering,� said John Wallace, a biochemist at the institute who is leading the research team. In total about 14% of global methane comes from the guts of farm animals. It is worth doing something about.�

Now, about fossil fuels and climate change. A word here from Times of London Camilla Cavendish (don't you just love British names like that?). She recently took aim at doomsaying enviros whose tactics she says obscure a societal fossil-fuel addiction adding to global warming risks.

When people are trying to navigate a torrent of complicated and contradictory information, it is of little help to hear stuck records chanting �the end is nigh�. The average person says things still look OK to him, 20 years on, and turns away. But it is still easier to preach apocalpyse than to explain a slow, chronic deterioration.

...We live in a society that regards the (cheap) return flight to Ma�laga as one of the most potent symbols of our freedom, even though prices are kept artificially low by airlines� indefensible exemption from fuel duty, and even though flights have a colossal impact on global warming. Polls suggest that seven out of eight people make no connection between flying and climate change. Even those who can no longer insure their homes against flooding still drive around in 4x4s, refusing to contemplate any contribution that they themselves may be making to extreme weather.

We don�t need activists lambasting government and business; we need marketers, advertisers, advocates who focus on educating consumers about the planet. We need sophisticated honest brokers to counter the cornucopians who believe in the limitless bounty of the Earth and worry about keeping up with the Joneses.

More here, from two fairly recent posts of mine at Sound Politics: one on global warming; another on biodiesel.

James Druse: Mr. Rosenberg - Regarding cheap holiday flights from Britain, Ms. Cavendish says, " prices are kept artificially low by airlines� indefensible exemption from fuel duty".

I find it amazing that she apparently believes that high taxes on goods or services are "normal", and that a lack of tax on anything is "artificial".

Keep up the good blogging.

TECHNORATI TAGS: COWS, FLATULENCE, METHANE, GLOBAL WARMING, FOSSIL FUELS, OIL, BIODIESEL

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at December 4, 2005 11:37 AM