Letter: Food vs. climate change

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 14, 2023

The COP28 climate summit just concluded in Dubai. The human population explosion of the last century was made possible, in large part, by the burning of fossil fuels. And this comes down to food production. Fossil-fuel derived fertilizers increased crop yields two to five times over the past century. Farm machinery powered by fossil fuels created labor efficiencies impossible through human and/or animal-based labor. How do we feed the Earth’s population without fossil fuels? ~ Tom Meuser, Portland