Animal Agriculture's Climate Lobbying and Misinformation Strategies with Georgina Gustin

In the past five years, a slew of academic research and several major international reports, including from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, have urged people, especially in developed countries, to lower their dairy and meat consumption because of the greenhouse gas intensity of the livestock industry. That, and the resulting media attention, has put these industries and their lobbying groups on defensive footing. According to researchers, the industries have adopted talking points and promoted research that downplays the energy intensity of the industries, and in some cases have pressured lawmakers to tweak legislation or rules that would have urged more plant-focused eating. In this talk, moderated by LEAP Executive Director Viveca Morris, Inside Climate News reporter Georgina Gustin will discuss the recent history of industry and legislative pushback and how these defensive efforts may confuse the public about the impacts of livestock agriculture.

Georgina Gustin is a reporter for Inside Climate News, where she covers the intersection of agriculture, food systems and climate change. She has twice been named the North American Agricultural Journalists Association Glenn Cunningham Agricultural Journalist of the Year and has received the John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism, among other awards. She has worked as a reporter for The Day in New London, Conn., the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and CQ Roll Call, and her stories have appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, and National Geographic’s The Plate, among others. She is a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the University of Colorado at Boulder.