Animal Outlook recently joined forces with leading environmental and animal protection organizations to submit critical comments to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), demanding they maintain greenhouse gas reporting requirements for factory farms—the same facilities that emit more methane than 27 EU countries combined.
Here’s what most people don’t know: The largest meat and dairy corporations are emitting greenhouse gases equivalent to major oil companies like Chevron and BP. Yet unlike those fossil fuel giants, factory farms face virtually zero accountability for their climate impact.
The shocking reality? Animal agriculture is the largest source of methane in the United States (36.6%), and emissions from manure management alone have skyrocketed 65% since 1990. One hour of methane plumes from mega-dairies equals the CO2 from driving 2 million miles.
Our legal team worked alongside Animal Legal Defense Fund, Center for Biological Diversity, and Food & Water Watch to expose how removing these reporting requirements would:
- Shield only the largest polluters (those emitting 25,000+ metric tons CO2e/year)
- Prevent states from protecting their communities
- Allow continued greenwashing through ineffective “voluntary measures”
This isn’t just paperwork—it’s about justice. Rural communities, family farmers, and all of us deserve breathable air and a livable climate. The corporate animal agriculture industry’s air pollution kills 12,700 people annually in the U.S. alone.
We’re not backing down. Through strategic legal advocacy, we’re holding power accountable and building the momentum for real change. Because compassion and justice aren’t weaknesses—they’re our greatest strengths.
Read our full coalition comment.
The future of food is transparent, sustainable, and compassionate. And we’re making it happen, one legal victory at a time.