Beef has an enormous climate footprint — but there’s an easy way to shrink that footprint way, way down: swap out beef for plant-based burgers.

Restaurants and retailers are rolling out new meatless burgers across the country. These burgers taste and feel just like the real thing. But McDonald’s seems to have missed the memo: unlike its competitors, the fast food giant still hasn’t introduced a meatless burger.

We need to stop eating so much beef, and we have to do it fast. Beef drives major deforestation and tons of planet-warming emissions. Scientists say wealthy countries need to reduce their meat consumption by 90 percent to keep the climate stable.

Many of us are hungry for alternatives, and McDonald's competitors already know this: Burger King’s "Impossible” whoppers will roll out nationwide by the end of the year, and White Castle’s plant-based sliders are already on sale in 400 locations.  

It would be a game changer to get McDonald's, the biggest fast food company in the world, to create plant-based choices that meat-eaters will love - and it would be easy for them to do it!

Scientists say we only have 12 years left to stop catastrophic climate change. We need to stop eating so much meat, and we have to do it fast. Pushing McDonald's to sell a planet-friendly burger — one with soy and other ingredients sourced from responsible farmers — could make an enormous difference for our future.