More than 100 years of tradition and doing business the same old way was turned upside down last week when General Motors announced plans to completely phase out internal combustion-powered vehicles by 2035 in favor of electric vehicles (EVs). The U.S.’s largest automaker will go completely carbon neutral at all facilities worldwide by 2040.

In the EV announcement, GM CEO Mary Barra said, “GM is joining governments and companies around the globe working to establish a safer, greener and better world. We encourage others to follow suit … ”

What a bold leadership move!

Is GM’s announcement a clarion call for the meat and poultry industry? In my view, we too, must set a date certain in our future when we will no longer produce meat and poultry in a way that contributes to greenhouse gases (GHGs) and then intrepidly go forth to achieve it. GM’s decision is an obvious reaction to the human-caused effects of climate change. Is there a leader amongst the major companies in animal agriculture to take the first step to upend their integrated operations and set the stage for others to follow? I don’t see why not.

Did it take guts for GM to switch its basic product concept from gas guzzlers to EV? Well, yeah! This is the company that marketed Hummers, after all. With competitors such as the EV maker Tesla recently turning a profit for the first time since it was founded in 2003, and all the other major automakers producing their own hybrids or all-electronic vehicles, GM’s decision to go totally EV seems like a no-brainer. But how many companies would make such a drastic and total switch to their raison d'être? I don’t know if GM can be successful with a total EV fleet, but I cannot imagine that such a decisive move will go unchallenged by its competitors.

The overwhelming evidence of climate change is clear and needs to be addressed by all who contribute to GHGs, which certainly includes the meat and poultry industry, although the extent of the industry's contributions are a matter of vigorous debate and ongoing measurement. But are we “meatheads” so staid and stuck in our ways that we cannot make such a momentous decision? If GM, with all its internal combustion engine history and investment, can react and change, we can, too. I know there will be ramifications that will reverberate throughout the entire meat and poultry integrated complex just like GM’s decision, which eventually will cause companies to go out of business, such as gas stations, engine repair shops, and so forth. But there will also be new companies to take their place to serve the EV industry. The same would hold true for meat and poultry's ancillary businesses.

How can we make such a change and what will it look like? First, we must factually discredit the climate change deniers — discard them to the dustbin of history. Climate change is real, and the methane belched by a ruminant animal, like the emissions from the tail pipes of internal combustion engines, are a contributor to GHG. Now, with our own all-electric vehicle fleet or at least a biodiesel- powered one we can begin to make inroads on GHG emissions. The fundamental fact of belching ruminants would still exist, however. And this is where we must bring all the science to bear to develop alternative feeding programs and ingredients that will eliminate or greatly reduce ruminant methane emissions.

Climate change naysayers will say animal agriculture cannot change. And of course it can't when the cynics are the loudest voices. Climate change facts will silence them. Second, scientists — and in our industry, we have some of the best — must develop different feeding regimens or supplements for ruminants to address the methane belches. You may say that this cannot be done because the ruminant process of turning cellulose into edible protein demands a four-chambered stomach and the biology inherent in it will not allow a “gasless” gut. We are better than to accept that excuse.

GM has set the stage to counter the debacle of climate change. Who amongst us will lead the way in GHG reduction from animal agriculture?

GM says all EV by 2035 — a herald for meat and poultry?

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