Thursday, June 9, 2011

Kill Camels to Save the Planet?

I ran across a story today on Yahoo about a plan being proposed in Australia to put a bounty on wild camels there--because their methane emissions are an ecological problem! The government says that the more than a million of these large animals cause various other kinds of destruction as well.

As a camel enthusiast (many years ago) this is pretty bizarre. And it's not a pleasant concept to anyone, really.

However, each camel reportedly burps out 100 pounds of methane a year, which is a lot, I guess. The EPA says it's about a sixth the amount of a car. And, it is true that our ecosystem must absorb emissions from many things besides factories and cars. I have heard more than once that cow flatulence is a significant cause of problems as well.

Somehow, "Go Green--Shoot a Camel" doesn't sound like it has traction, but with Australia's aggressive plan to slash emissions, which starts next year, it could happen.

1 comment:

dls57 said...

When a man wants to change or fix something someone or something will suffer. What is causing so much damage to our planet is overwhelmingly us. Our vehicles are a huge cause of global warming. We have no right to blame an animal that is defenseless.We are unable to change it seems. Perhaps hateful men and women should just cease to live.