Do we need to quit eating meat?

This is one of the more popular myths you hear about fighting climate change. The usual story goes that it takes so much fuel and chemicals to raise animals -- actually always depicted as beef -- that if we really are serious about fighting "the global warming thing" we should only eat lentils, wear sandals and dress in sack cloth.
Have you heard that cow farts and belches contribute to greenhouse gas too? Of course you have. That is because the richest and most powerful industry and lobby in the world, the fossil fuel industry, is keeping this and many other ridiculous stories alive through their well-heeled propaganda machines. Just Google "climate change skeptic organizations" for a list. They are using the same tactics formerly employed by the tobacco industry to sow doubt and confusion on a subject for which science reached a conclusion many decades ago.
Here is the real story: 83 per cent of each individual's contribution to climate change comes from his burning of fossil fuels either in his vehicle or to heat or cool his buildings. Cow farts and people's farts, for that matter, fall within the remaining 17 per cent of our carbon footprint. They are spit in the ocean compared to the big problems.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says we need to cut our fossil fuel use by 45 per cent in just the next 12 years or it will be too late to prevent catastrophe.
I've been thinking about our own situation. We actually reduced our gasoline use by 50 per cent  when we owned the camp by switching to four-cycle outboard engines. That was 15 years ago. Although we had to borrow in order to make that switch the savings in gas paid for the loan.
It seems to me this is always the case: spend a little to save a lot.
Now that we have retired we have cut our use of propane for home heating by installing a high efficiency wood burning stove and building a sun room. The sun room heats the house on sunny days and the stove heats it mornings and evenings and on cloudy days. We still rely on the high efficiency furnace at night. Will we cut our propane use by 45 per cent? We will know in a couple of months when our propane tank is refilled but my guess is there will be a substantial reduction.
We have already witnessed a 30 per cent reduction in our electricity or hydro bill. There are two reasons for that: we switched to an on-demand propane hot water system, and we have not needed to supplement our furnace with electric space heaters. In the past we used the space heaters during especially bitter nights. This year the wood stove has provided the extra needed BTUs. The propane water heater does, of course, use a fossil fuel. Our electricity does not; it comes from a hydro dam in Kakabeka Falls. However the money we save from not keeping a 30-gallon tank perpetually hot in the basement can be used toward other fossil fuel cuts, like a hybrid car when we are ready for a new vehicle.
Incidentally, next to solar and wind energy firewood is about as green a fuel as can be. Burning it does emit carbon dioxide but growing new trees takes the carbon back out of the atmosphere. Certainly it can't be used in cities but it is a viable alternative for people like us who live in the country and grow our own trees. Our high efficiency Napoleon stove is practically smokeless.
Other fuel-saving things we have done over the years include triple-glazed windows and an original house design that maximized solar gain and insulation as well as controlling air movement with enclosed door entries. Ventilation comes from a heat recovery system.
Any further carbon reductions will probably need to come from our vehicles. My four-cylinder truck although 10-years old is still about as fuel thrifty as more modern models although they are more powerful. Our three-year-old Grand Caravan gets amazing mileage on long trips but could be better for around town.