Have you guys heard that Joe Biden wants to ban meat? It’s ridiculous, of course. Joe Biden can’t take our animal flesh away, not even from our cold, dead hands.
That said, though, Joe Biden should really consider banning meat.
Here, let Vox’s Zack Beauchamp do what he gets paid to do and explain it to the rest of us:
The absurd claim that Biden is trying to ban meat reveals a scarier reality: we need to reduce meat consumption to head off catastrophic climate change, but the culture war might make that impossible https://t.co/xp03EKT0mP
— Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp) April 26, 2021
Beauchamp writes:
Of course, Biden’s climate change plan does not limit meat-eating in any way. A Washington Post fact-check traced the burger-banning Biden myth back to a misleading article in the Daily Mail, a UK tabloid known for sensationalist coverage and right-wing politics. Biden’s actual climate policies so far have focused on reducing emissions from cars and power plants, with no effort to block meat production or consumption.
At first blush, this is yet another instance of a fake outrage cycle in the right-wing echo chamber pegged to a lie. But there’s something more distressing here too — it’s the latest example of how efforts to curb the climate crisis and our reliance on meat are becoming just the latest flashpoints in our all-consuming culture wars.
The grain of truth in the Republican claims (agri-pun intended) is that any serious climate change plan needs to do something about meat production. A recent paper in Science, a leading academic journal, found that food-related emissions alone put the Paris climate agreement’s warming target of 1.5 degrees Celsius out of reach. The most effective way to address these emissions, according to the paper’s authors, is a global shift away from meat consumption.
Biden’s climate policies so far have not advanced this goal, so those conservative potshots over the weekend were lies. But here’s the thing: Biden’s plan absolutely should do something about industrial farming. Any plan to tackle climate change should do something to decrease America’s reliance on the meat industry — moonshot subsidies for lab-grown meat, for example.
Joe Biden is not banning meat and conservatives are stupid for thinking he’d do something like that and also Joe Biden should do something like that.
"It's an absurd claim.
Also… here's my article on why we need to do it." https://t.co/8j0CYMegHk— Sean The Producer (@SeanTheProducr) April 26, 2021
"We need to make this absurd claim a reality." https://t.co/JvPcsPMj8X
— Howard Wall ??? (@HJWallEcon) April 26, 2021
"The absurd claim that Biden is trying to ban meat reveals a scarier reality: we really need to ban meat, or at least severely curtail its consumption. The government must lead." https://t.co/YfvmNYAs1I
— Jeff B., who on earth is this guy?? (@EsotericCD) April 26, 2021
https://twitter.com/Cherusci/status/1386807423978119177
“The claim that Biden wants to ban meat is absurd but here’s an article with a clear implication that SOMEONE has to get us to stop eating meat.” https://t.co/lCyB6Pd07S
— Joe Cunningham (@JoePCunningham) April 26, 2021
Shorter Gaza Bridge Juice Voxer: It's a problem that people on the right incorrectly claimed that Joe Biden wants to ban hamburgers, but it's an even bigger problem that he doesn't. https://t.co/19PMMdqL9W
— Varad Mehta (@varadmehta) April 26, 2021
This is a neat rhetorical trick. It’s absurd to make this claim about Biden. *proceeds to make claim himself* https://t.co/6ROy95Oy50
— Phil (@philllosoraptor) April 26, 2021
Keep up the great work, Zack.
It’s hard to be too cynical about the left. Even when the right is wrong on the facts: banning meat isn’t in the bill, the left proves that this is their real desire eventually.
— Phil (@philllosoraptor) April 26, 2021
The problem in this country seems to be a function of the right understanding the left and the left not understanding, or wanting to, the right. Their cynicism is almost never fulfilled because they fundamentally do not understand the right.
— Phil (@philllosoraptor) April 26, 2021
Is Zack’s thinking that if he suggests it first, it won’t annoy people as much if Biden eventually decides to crack down on beef consumption? Or is Zack just fantasizing about things he would do if he were running the show?
We’re honestly not entirely sure, though we do feel confident in saying that Zack Beauchamp is a virtue-signaling, wannabe-authoritarian hack who deserves to get roasted for this.
Lmao “the culture war” okay dude https://t.co/5sE84BX2sb
— Grant Addison (@jgrantaddison) April 26, 2021
Idiot seems to think only cons like meat https://t.co/ucXk0pENxG
— George_Smith (@P1_W_Michigan) April 26, 2021
Yes, it's the culture war's fault that most people like the taste of meat. https://t.co/uyTodN1zDj
— Akash Shetye (@AkashShetye) April 26, 2021
In this context "the culture war" is a strange way to refer to why *the strong preferences of huge democratic majorities in every country* is prevailing over *a position one tiny faction wants technocratic elites to coercively impose.* https://t.co/NNMGDaNTSV
— Conor Friedersdorf (@conor64) April 26, 2021
I’m all for addressing climate change but telling people their lives are going to be miserable is why this will never happen. https://t.co/QzhxuopzsC
— Eric Cunningham (@decunningham2) April 26, 2021
Remember Paul Bethany whipping himself in The Da Vinci Code?
That’s what joining the International Holy Church of Climate is at this point. It’s just sad that human beings choose to be like this. https://t.co/YcNPBYKAXp
— Oilfield Rando (@Oilfield_Rando) April 26, 2021
Well, at least not all of us choose to be that way.
And they wonder why people are paranoid about this sort of thing.
— Jeff B., who on earth is this guy?? (@EsotericCD) April 26, 2021
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