Readers React: Really, Rep. Rohrabacher, cow farts are a big problem for our planet

To the editor: Outgoing Republican Rep. Dana Rohrbacher’s “lighthearted poke” at those silly humorless activists who blame global warming on cow farts prompted a quick internet fact check.

There are almost 1.5 billion head of cattle on the planet. A dairy cow can release up to 400 liters of methane per day, and methane is about 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.

Some conservative math: Let’s say each of those 1.5 billion cattle releases 100 liters of methane daily. That’s about 150 billion liters of methane pumped into the atmosphere every day from cows alone. This just might be a contributor to the climate change being experienced by every living thing.

I wonder if Rohrabacher is aware of the commercial operation just offshore of his Orange County district that is producing a type of kelp for use as an additive to cattle feed to minimize methane emissions. Incidentally, that operation produces tax-paying jobs in the district that just voted him out of office.

Mike Bell, Redondo Beach

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