Scientists now say you should eat snakes to 'save the planet' from climate change



For more than a decade, people have been told to eat bugs to combat climate change. The hot new food source to reportedly reduce one's carbon footprint is snakes, according to scientists.

New research advocates for humans to increase consumption of snakes as a food alternative to reduce greenhouse gases.

Research published in Scientific Reports last week noted that "python farming appears to offer tangible benefits for sustainability and food systems resilience."

The authors of the study claim that python farming "can not only complement existing livestock systems, but may offer better returns in terms of production efficiencies."

“This is an alternative livestock system that needs to be taken seriously," said the paper's lead author – Dr. Daniel Natusch. "We’re not necessarily saying everyone should stop eating beef and turn to pythons, but there needs to be a conversation about them having a more prominent place in the agricultural mix."

"Climate change, disease, and diminishing natural resources are all ramping up pressure on conventional livestock and plant crops, with dire effects on many people in low-income countries already suffering acute protein deficiency," said Natusch – an honorary research fellow in Macquarie’s School of Natural Sciences.

Natusch added, "No other livestock species studied to date possesses the same credentials or rates of production as pythons."

The research found that pythons that fasted for up to 4.2 months only lost an average of 0.004% of their body mass per day, but "resumed rapid growth as soon as feeding recommenced."

The researchers argued that since pythons can go months without foo, they offer worthwhile "food security" in a world with "global food insecurity."

The scientists pointed out that pythons on farms most commonly eat wild-caught rodents and "waste protein from agri-food supply chains (e.g., pork, chicken, fish)." The paper added that python farms control rodent populations, which is also beneficial to humans.

“Livestock fed on plant protein sourced from a crop monoculture where a natural habitat once stood… is far less sustainable than capturing rodent pests or using waste protein to feed pythons," Natusch added.

The paper's lead author noted that pythons rapidly grew to "slaughter weight" within their first year. He also stated that pythons produce far fewer greenhouse gases than traditional livestock.

New Scientist pointed out, "A key thing missing from the study’s comparison is the fact that as carnivores, snakes are eating animals that ate plants, whereas other farm animals eat mostly plants. If the total mass of plant material required per kilogram of carcass was compared, snakes might not look nearly so efficient."

Natusch rebutted that pythons on farms are fed rodents and waste meat, so it is not about efficiency since the snakes are consuming unwanted food sources that would generally be unutilized.

Natusch even contends that python farming is more sustainable than many plant-based foods.

"For the vegans out there, in my experience, there would likely be more animals suffering from sowing crops into the soil each year than are killed to feed a python," he declared.

Natusch contends that snake tastes like chicken, explaining, "If prepared well, it’s great."

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New Jersey plastic bag ban caused 300% increase in plastic use, 500% increase in pollution, study shows



A market research company found that after New Jersey banned single-use plastic bags, the amount of plastic used in the state for bags went up significantly, as did the amount of pollution created in production. Only the retailer benefited from the increased sales of the alternative bags.

After New Jersey banned single-use plastic bags — that were often used in retail and grocery stores — total bag volumes declined by more than 60%. The 2022 ban pushed the state's number of the bags down to 894 million from around 1.5 billion. While the reduction in single-use bags was evident, it generated different problems, including the very same environmental issues such bans are typically meant to mitigate.

Not only did the ban cause an abrupt increase in theft of shopping baskets, but it also caused a nearly threefold increase in plastic consumption.

Market research group Freedonia conducted a study that analyzed the impact of the ban on retail practices, consumer behavior, and environmental aftermath. The study found that the alternative bags that have been used to replace the single-use bags consumed more plastic and created more emissions.

Six times more woven and non-woven polypropylene plastic was consumed to produce reusable bags that were sold as environmentally friendly alternatives. According to the study, non-woven polypropylene bags are not widely recycled in the United States, nor do they consist of any recycled materials.

While the environmental impact of the shift in materials was measured rather generically in terms of "greenhouse gas emissions," the emissions increased by 500% when compared to that of plastic bag production in 2015. The alternative non-woven polypropylene bag material consumes over 15 times more plastic in production and generates five times more emissions per bag.

At the same time, the shift toward delivery and pickup for groceries after COVID-19 restrictions increased the production of the alternative bags.

The shift to these alternatives has seemingly only benefitted retailers. The study claimed that grocery retailers in New Jersey can profit up to $200,000 per location off non-woven polypropylene bags, or $42 million across the state.

The research also noted that the alternative bags are reused only two to three times before being discarded, falling short of the frequency of usage that would justify the switch from the traditional single-use plastics.

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AOC Gets Fact-Checked In The Middle Of A Hearing For Bogus Climate Claim

'Even the Interior Department stopped using that number'

Biden admin announces 'ambitious' new vehicle mileage standards to fight climate change



Fresh off an apparent defeat on its $1.75 trillion climate and social spending package, the Biden administration announced this week it would be significantly raising vehicle mileage standards in an effort to fight global warming.

What are the details?

The Associated Press reported Monday that the Environmental Protection Agency is finalizing a rule to "raise mileage standards starting in the 2023 model year, reaching a projected industry-wide target of 40 miles per gallon by 2026."

The news agency said the new rule amounts to a massive 25% increase over a fuel standards rule implemented last year under the Trump administration and is even 5% higher than a proposal submitted by Biden's EPA in August of this year.

In a news release issued on Monday, the EPA called the new rules "the most ambitious federal greenhouse gas emissions standards for passenger cars and light trucks ever."

“The final rule for light duty vehicles reflect core principles of this Administration: We followed the science, we listened to stakeholders, and we are setting robust and rigorous standards that will aggressively reduce the pollution that is harming people and our planet – and save families money at the same time,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan.

“At EPA, our priority is to protect public health, especially in overburdened communities, while responding to the President’s ambitious climate agenda. Today we take a giant step forward in delivering on those goals, while paving the way toward an all-electric, zero-emissions transportation future," he added.

The agency argued that the "benefits of this rule exceed the costs by as much as $190 billion" through lowered costs for drivers via improved fuel efficiency. It also predicted that by 2050, the program would result in preventing more than 3 billion tons of greenhouse gas from being emitted into the environment.

What's the background?

The EPA announcement comes amid the backdrop of a climate and social spending failure by the Biden administration.

Over the weekend, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) delivered a devastating blow to the administration by announcing that he would not support the president's Build Back Better plan, effectively killing the legislation. The announcement set off a chain of negative reactions from progressive media figures, Democratic lawmakers, and White House officials.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki berated Manchin in a 700-plus-word statement, alleging that the senator went back on his word. Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called out Manchin for not having the "guts" to go through with the plan. And Politico editor Sam Stein complained that Manchin's decision would be "devastating for the planet."

Biden has made aggressively fighting climate change a fundamental tenet of his presidency. He has proposed a goal of cutting U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by at least half by 2030, and his administration has been intent on growing the electric vehicle market in America.

China's greenhouse gas emissions exceed every developed nation combined, researchers say



China produces more greenhouse gas emissions than any other developed nation in the world combined, according to new data.

What are the details?

Despite climate change alarmists who claim the U.S. has a problem with greenhouse gas emissions, a new report from the Rhodium Group exposes China as the world's overwhelming leader of greenhouse gas emissions.

Researchers said China was responsible for 27% of all greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, nearly three times the amount emitted by the United States and more than the entire developed world combined.

The U.S. contributed 11%, while India and the European Union were each over 6%.

Based on our newly updated estimates for 2019, global emissions reached 52 gigatons of CO2e in 2019, an 11.4% incre… https://t.co/BYXCO3ZDjk

— Rhodium Group (@rhodium_group) 1620315394.0

Shockingly, China's greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 have more than tripled since 1990, according to the Rhodium Group, when "China's emissions were less than a quarter of developed country emissions."

China's per capita emissions have also skyrocketed, according to Rhodium Group — but still significantly trail the U.S.

"China's 2019 per capita emissions reached 10.1 tons, nearly tripling over the past two decades. This comes in just below avg levels across the [Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development] bloc (10.5 tons), but still significantly lower than the US, which has the highest per capita emissions at 17.6 tons," the group tweeted.

The research group appeared to soften China's massive greenhouse gas output by explaining China is responsible for relatively less emissions than other developed countries that industrialized prior to China.

"China's history as a major emitter is relatively short compared to developed countries, many of which had more than a century head start. A large share of the CO2 emitted into the atmosphere each year hangs around for hundreds of years. As a result, current global warming is the result of emissions from both the recent and more distant past. Since 1750, members of the OECD bloc have emitted four times more CO2 on a cumulative basis than China," the group wrote.

What about 2020?

Preliminary data from 2020 show that, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise in China.

"Based on preliminary economic and energy data, we estimate that total GHG emissions in China increased 1.7% in 2020, reaching 14,400 million metric tons (MMt) of CO2e," the Rhodium Group said.

"To put that figure in context, we estimate that is the equivalent of the total annual emissions of nearly 180 of the world's lowest-emitting countries combined," researchers explained.

Despite the massive amount of emissions, China signed the Paris climate agreement and Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to make China carbon neutral by 2060.