Environmentalists Wage War on Thanksgiving Tradition

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and most families will gather around the table to enjoy a turkey with all the trimmings. Such scenes are as American as apple pie and baseball, forever immortalized in a Norman Rockwell painting called Freedom From Want.

But it wouldn't be the holidays without the usual scolds showing up to try to guilt-trip us into questioning whether we should enjoy that time with our family or spend it worrying about Gaia. This year, it's Axios leading the charge and warning us about the carbon footprint of the Thanksgiving staple.

Are Thanksgiving turkeys bad for the environment? Here's the carbon footprint https://t.co/m7Yp2Qq2pf
— Axios (@axios) November 26, 2025

Here's more:

You probably won't ponder your carbon footprint when you sit down to devour that Thanksgiving turkey — but some food and climate activists say you should.
Why it matters: With climate change fading in importance on some U.S. lawmakers' priority lists, activists say even small steps from the public are needed.
The big picture: The beloved bird is considered more environmentally friendly than beef. But turkey still produces, in production and post-production, the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming — even more than chicken, according to the Environmental Working Group.
"Raising and processing a four-ounce turkey serving is the equivalent of nearly three miles' worth of tailpipe emissions," said Iris Myers, the group's senior communications manager.
Exactly how is much your overall meal's carbon footprint? A lot depends on where you live and what kind of energy you use for cooking — natural gas, electricity from coal or something else.
In 2016, Carnegie Mellon researchers calculated the state-by-state footprint of a typical feast, including roast turkey stuffed with sausage and apples, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie.
They found that meals prepared in Washington state and Vermont emitted the lowest amounts of carbon dioxide. Hydropower and wind provide about two-thirds of Washington's energy. while renewables provide almost all of Vermont's.
States that rely more on coal, such as Wyoming, West Virginia and Kentucky, had the highest Turkey Day emissions, the researchers found.