Blog Action Day: Methane vs. Cars vs. Communication
I’m excited to participate in Blog Action Day today. If you’ve not heard about it, it’s another, cooler way of turning the network effect of the blogosphere outward to cause good things to happen.
In doing community work, you have to get really good at communication. I’ve found myself studying communication patterns, delivery methods, and the effect of things like tone. It fascinates me how often the “big story” is wrong, or missing crucial pieces.
For instance, look at the story of global warming. We’ve heard a metric ton about the effect of auto exhaust on the environment. But we haven’t seen much coverage about the effect of methane and livestock. Funny thing, according to a United Nations report, the methane released from livestock is having a larger impact than transportation.
According to a new report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalent – 18 percent – than transport. It is also a major source of land and water degradation.
So why do we never hear about this? If we’re honestly trying to solve the problem of greenhouse gases, why is this not getting talked about as much as transportation?
My guess is that it’s easier the media to ride an existing wave rather than fully research the rest of the waves. We see this same trend in online community groups too, for that matter, but I can accept it with communities. After all, members join a community to focus specifically on the things that interest them. Journalists are supposed to be looking at the full picture regardless of which parts interest them.
