A pro-whaling group discovers the green benefits of hunting whales—but do they miss they overarching point?

Whale Whit Welles

A Norwegian pro-whaling group released a study concluding that farming livestock is worse for the environment than hunting giant whales. The group’s argument is that the process of tracking and harpooning the mammals requires less fuel than farming livestock—the boats burn less fuel, and release less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Sure, maybe that makes sense, and it’s certainly a creative way to try to generate some positive PR by hitching a ride with the green movement, but isn’t the whole anti-whaling thing really about, you know, saving the actual whales? The carbon footprint of whaling might be smaller than that of raising cattle or chickens, but that was never the point. The anti-whaling movement is about extinction, not greenhouse gases.

Via Reuters

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