Billboards urge McMaster to target SC cattle farms in fight against flooding
Billboards urging Gov. Henry McMaster to take on big livestock farms will go up in Columbia under a national organization’s effort to fight climate change by moving the state away from beef production.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine says methane from large cattle farms is a powerful greenhouse gas that is contributing to global warming -- and nowhere is climate change felt more than in South Carolina, where flooding is an increasing problem.
The group wants McMaster to encourage the conversion of industrial-scale cattle farms to crop farms as a way to tackle climate change and flooding that has swamped South Carolina.
To raise awareness, the group says it spent nearly $8,000 on three billboards that will ask the governor to take action. The billboard campaign will last for about a month beginning this week, according to plans.
“Governor McMaster: Concerned about flooding as temperatures rise? Incentivize: CropsNotCattle.org,’’ according to a copy of the billboard message, which references a web page advocating a reduction in beef production.
Jeanne Stuart McVey, a spokeswoman for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, said the governor and state lawmakers could lead the way by providing incentives for cattle farmers to convert to growing crops, such as pecans.
“If somebody wants to convert from a dairy farm to pecan grove, he should get help from the government,’’ McVey said. “Then, what members of the public can do is support that. They can tell their elected officials that we have a problem with flooding and maybe we can convert some of these huge monster dairy farms to pecan groves.’’
Her group, which touts 17,000 doctors as members, favors the use of plant-based diets to improve people’s health.
Two of the billboards in Columbia will be on Main Street, one a 48-foot wide board about a half-mile from the governor’s mansion. The other will be on Taylor Street, the group said.
Governor’s office spokesman Brian Symmes and state farm leaders weren’t impressed with the group’s billboard campaign. Symmes said the governor supports cattle farming.
Cattle farmers “have a tremendous impact on our state, economically, but most importantly, they provide for their families and they provide good jobs for South Carolina people,’’ Symmes said. “The governor has no intention of trying to harm those businesses that are so important to their communities and to our state.’’
Stephanie Sox, a spokeswoman for the S.C. Farm Bureau, said cattle farms are not, overall, a large source of greenhouse gas pollution. The burning of fossil fuels is a much larger source of heat-trapping gases. But she said farms are still working to control methane releases.
“Eliminating animal agriculture is an unrealistic and unsustainable way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,’’ Sox said.
She also said cattle farmers “would be irate’’ about the billboard campaign, which she suggested is part of an effort to eliminate meat as a food source.
“It’s a scary thought,’’ Sox said. “One of the reasons we are such a strong country is we have food security and we are very blessed to have food choices. I think all Americans would agree that is something we should continue to support.’’
Roy Copelan, executive director of the S.C. Beef Council, questioned how much impact the state’s cattle farms have on the changing climate. The cattle industry in the Midwest and some surrounding southern states is far larger than in South Carolina, he said.
South Carolina has about 350,000 cattle, whereas some states have a million cattle, he said.
Nonetheless, the physicians group says every state should do its part.
South Carolina was chosen as a place to launch the billboard campaign because the state has had so many troubles with flooding, particularly in coastal communities that are battling rising sea level and intense storms, the group said.
Greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, are heating up the atmosphere, group officials said.
Since 2015, South Carolina has been pounded with heavy rains and hurricanes, natural phenomenon suspected of being associated with the changing climate. In 2015, the Columbia area experienced historic floods that broke community dams, knocked out power and made some major intersections impassable.
Flooding concerns prompted McMaster to form a commission to examine how to deal with the problem. The state Floodwater Commission has been criticized for reacting to the climate problem, instead of offering suggestions on how to control greenhouse gas pollution.
McVey, whose group wrote Floodwater Commission chairman Tom Mullikin to express concerns, said it may begin similar campaigns about methane and meat production in Georgia and Maine.
“We urge you to immediately take action to reduce methane emissions from factory farms,’’ the group’s letter to Mullikin said. “Methane from beef cattle and dairy cows is a potent planet-warming gas, and warmer temperatures can lead to heavier rainfall, melting ice, sea level rise, flooding and more intense storms and hurricanes.’’
Huge livestock farms have for years been associated with water pollution and powerful odors. But of particular concern to the physicians group is what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says is the second most abundant man-made greenhouse gas.
Methane accounts for about 20 percent of global emissions and is 25 times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, the most abundant greenhouse gas, the EPA says. Methane doesn’t last nearly as long in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, but major reductions could put a big dent in the earth’s climate problem, the EPA says.
About 44 percent of the emissions from livestock are methane, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Beth Motley, a Greenville doctor and member of the physicians organization, said cutting methane emissions from cattle farms would help fight climate change, but reducing people’s reliance on meat also would be better for the environment and healthier.
Motley, a vegetarian, also is a fellow with the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, a group that focuses on using lifestyle to prevent disease.
“I do not think anyone needs meat in order to be healthy,’’ she said. “I don’t think saying completely eliminating it is reasonable at this point. But I do think it is just something people need to think about and focus on. That’s why the billboards are going up. So that we can sort of start that conversation.’’
This story has been updated. An earlier version misspelled the first name of Governor’s office spokesman Brian Symmes.
This story was originally published June 4, 2021 at 6:34 AM.
