saying this is wrong -- this equality is wrong and we -- this inequality is wrong and we will end this inequality. i'm looking forward to the country getting to and working to advocate that we allow -- because it is allowed to have great race relations when we have great racial economic inequality. it is hard to sit down with your neighbor of an opposite race -- i'm sorry, of another race, when most of your neighbors are all of one race. dealing with racial economic inequality and the racial wealth to -- wealth divide will be the next steps in strengthening race relations in the future. host: if you want to read more of his work, a good place to go is mcrc. -- ncrc.org. and you can follow him on twitter. @dedrickm. now, caitlin glover, the natural resources executive director at the cattlemen's beef

association. on the association itself, expand who you represent and what your group does here in washington and around the country. guest: good morning, john, and thank you for having me on this morning. as you said, i am from the national cattlemen's beef association, which is the largest trade association. we represent members throughout the sector of the funk -- beef and cattle production. we are from grassroots, from our communities all the way to washington. i represent a proximally to any 5000 individual members, but i more than 175,000 members in total across the country. we do have affiliates in each state to deal with a more state-focused issue, but then they bring issues to us in washington, not only for things like nutrition. then, -- that we will talk about this morning, and land policy and really telling a story on a national stage.

host: 175,000 members, how many of them are cattle farmers themselves out there with the cows? guest: like i said, this is a member-driven organization, so we represent hundreds of thousands of cattle producers across the country. of the 170 five, we have cattle producers, cattle feeders, members who were involved in the processing side as well. it really is this full sector or presentation, as marketers like to call it, this farm to plate or farm gate to the market as well. it is this full sector representation. the vast majority of which are these local producers, we call them cow calf producers that have the mother cows have this whole production on the ground on pasture, who are really the environmental champions that we very lucky to tell -- feel lucky to tell her story. guest: your focus it -- host: your focus is on the natural and environmental side.

what can you tell us about the story on the front page today, ransomware attack on meat operations. i know it's early into the investigation into that. guest: it is, and i think the important thing here is that we are monitoring this situation closely. as we represent our members, as we are very involved in a lot of the policy and a lot of these discussions, not only making sure they are sustainable business environments for our producers but for our consumers as well. we continue to monitor the situation, but don't have additional information that has been released at this time. host: i know you are out on the west coast this morning, but the capitol building behind you there in your background, your focus when you are on capitol hill, what are you pushing congress on right now? what are your priorities? guest: there are a bar idea priorities. as we look at the work our organization does with capitol hill, with the administration,

our focus is to make sure that, as we are looking at environment regulations, looking at things that congress in the ministration want to do, that the entire scenario that the legislative and regulatory scenario not only recognizes facts on the ground but also creates an environment for growth and innovation. continue to the be the environmental caretakers, the stewards of vast landscapes. in a way that perhaps is not always the easiest or most visible story to tell. we work with congress on things from endangered species to taxes, to transportation. of course i'm the natural resources expert, i have the

grass and the species and soil carbon type discussions on my plate. as i'm in california this morning, at the top of that list, on my list this morning is the concept of soil health and forge health. and all of those questions in respect to catastrophic wildfire that we have seen increase in both number and size over the last several decades. host: if our viewers have questions about the industry, about the issues we have been talking about both yesterday and today on the "washington journal," phone lines are open to call in and caitlin glover with us from the national cattlemen's beef association to answer your phone calls. it is (202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8000 for democrats, independents, it is (202) 748-8002. yesterday was chloe waterman with the friends of the earth who is on to talk about these

issues. this question came up, is cattle farming bad for the environment. how much of u.s. greenhouse gas emissions does cattle farming account for? guest: the epa's estimate for the amount of emissions associated with beef, they are not counting important sources of emission. one thing is we are not counting what we would consider the carbon opportunity cost. all of that that is going into producing that corn and soy and used for grazing, what would be the alternative use of that land? that land could be sequestering carbon into the soil instead of being in that emitter. so that is not counted. the number they cattlemen are referring to is undercounting the impact of methane as well, with as i mentioned, is a potent greenhouse gas. and livestock production, according to the epa, is the greatest source of methane pollution in the country, which

is greenhouse gas that we have to control in short order if we are going to be successful in addressing climate. host: that was chloe waterman yesterday from friends of the earth. i wanted to give you a chance to respond to that. guest: thanks, john. i think we will begin a little bit with the fact-check. when we look at the united states beef production scenario, what we see from the epa data that has repeatedly shown where the emissions profile is, over late, we see that beef production, cattle production in the united states is responsible for approximately 2% of our entire national emissions portfolio. when we look at beef production, in comparison to things like transportation or electricity generation, which hover about the 30% -- >> "washington journal" live every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern. we take you like to the white house with the briefing with jen psaki. >> the presidents running a little