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Republicans are lying about red meat to drive opposition to climate action for a simple reason: b/c it works.
Meat is a hugely powerful cultural force in America. I started asking why back in 2018, after a carrot hot dog recipe broke everyone’s brains. https://newrepublic.com/article/149325/carrot-hot-dogs-make-mad">https://newrepublic.com/article/1...
Meat is a hugely powerful cultural force in America. I started asking why back in 2018, after a carrot hot dog recipe broke everyone’s brains. https://newrepublic.com/article/149325/carrot-hot-dogs-make-mad">https://newrepublic.com/article/1...
I learned so much from reporting this piece, specifically about the role cheap and abundant meat has played in forming the American identity. Access to meat is what set us apart from Europe, driving the idea American exceptionalism (and lots of xenophobia) https://newrepublic.com/article/149325/carrot-hot-dogs-make-mad">https://newrepublic.com/article/1...
Our cultural attachment to meat is so powerful that it’s actually the driving force of companies like Beyond and Impossible, which are trying to change the entire definition of meat so we don’t feel like we’re giving it up. I wrote about that in 2019: https://newrepublic.com/article/153998/promise-problem-fake-meat-beyond-burger-impossible-foods">https://newrepublic.com/article/1...
Ultimately, when Republicans lie about meat to delay climate action, they too are trying to tap into this part of our brains — the one that says, “cheap and abundant meat is America. Cheap and abundant meat is me.” https://newrepublic.com/article/153187/potency-republicans-hamburger-lie">https://newrepublic.com/article/1...
And when Republicans lie about meat to delay climate action, they are doing it on behalf of an politically powerful industry that — while not fossil fuels — is one of the most significant climate polluters we have https://heated.world/p/prepare-for-the-meat-wars">https://heated.world/p/prepare...
Republicans do this with fossil fuels, too. They frame them as a core part of American identity—and climate action as an attempt to strip you of it.
Like the meat lie, it is a form of psychological warfare to protect profits of high-polluting industries.
Like the meat lie, it is a form of psychological warfare to protect profits of high-polluting industries.
This is why I often say climate change is not just an emissions problem, but a social and cultural problem. Solving it requires changes not just to the energy system, but to how we think of ourselves.
Anywho, sign up for my climate newsletter: http://heated.world"> http://heated.world
Anywho, sign up for my climate newsletter: http://heated.world"> http://heated.world
