I’ve poured through the EPA tables on the contribution of agriculture production to greenhouse gases, and the high level number is misleading. Typically estimates look at emissions directly contributed from agriculture, but they separate out a ton of linked factors. Like, the production of petrochemical fertilizers are not included in the “agriculture” emissions category; only the emissions that are released in using them to farm. Then there’s transportation emissions, etc, all in their own categories. (It makes sense to look at agriculture as a whole, since so much of it is geared towards feeding animals...)

Then there’s the opportunity cost for all the land that is used to farm annual crops for animals. That land could be regenerating healthy soil, and capturing carbon.

Bottom line, the official numbers aren’t by far an accurate picture. Animal agriculture, even in America, is a huge piece of the climate puzzle.