Publication: KTLA 

UCLA Expert: Gregory Orkin: Professor, Department of Geography; Member, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability 

Synopsis: A KTLA-TV segment and article features research by Okin — which calculates the environmental impacts of pet purchases. With Americans spending about $100 billion on their pets each year, these choices can add up.  

UCLA News: “[Okin’s] study, published in 2017, found that the meat consumption of the 163 million dogs and cats in the U.S. produced 64 million tons of carbon dioxide, impacting the atmosphere as much as 13.6 million cars driving for a year.” 

Read more at KTLA.