Authoritative references on vegans and carbon footprint

The sentiment in some places on the internet is that the best thing you can do to reduce your carbon footprint is to switch to a vegan diet. We wish to address this conversation in our book. The thing that we're trying to figure out is: what is the most authoritative reference in this space? When I spend some time on the interwebs I can't seem to find one that looks like "the authority." Is it the Cowspiracy movie that came out in the last few years? Is it something/someone else? Please post links to authoritative references on this topic so that we can finish writing our chapter.

This thread is not for debating the topic of diet and carbon footprint or even for sharing your view on the topic. I may create such a thread later, but I will delete any posts that cross this boundary in this thread. I just want to figure out who the authority in this space is. Thanks!

I don't know if its considered authorative, but Forks Over Knives had a documentary and book.  It is a whole food, plant based diet from what I remember. Hope it helps!

Edit: sorry, forgot it said add to link https://www.forksoverknives.com

Edited again because I'm really bad with adding links😝

I have always scoffed at that claim. 1st because it is usually made in a zealoted way, and I discount every zealots emotional appeals, and 2nd because those types of studies are just too hard to do with any sort of accuracy. There are way too many externalities.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livestock's_Long_Shadow wrote:Livestock's Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options is a United Nations report, released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on 29 November 2006,[1] that "aims to assess the full impact of the livestock sector on environmental problems, along with potential technical and policy approaches to mitigation".[1]

Probably good info in the carbon farming solution book.

You might be able to get some numbers about vegan farming by contacting Ecology Action  http://www.growbiointensive.org

I feel like I *should* know this since eat 100% plant-based but since my decision was based on health, my research/focus was slanted that way.  

However, there are a couple places where some info is collected that might be helpful.

This site is "everything vegan" with primary focus on Earth/animals/tasty vegan food/celebrities (not so much health).  Their stuff is definitely not what I would consider unbiased, however there are some good links to sources that are.

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/new-study-reveals-quickly-climate-change-will-wreck-planet/


This is an interesting, LONG thread on MMM forums with discussion on reducing environmental impact.  Lots of comments about eating vege for that reason with links in some posts to articles and studies posted on Guardian, National Geographic, etc.  Like this one:  
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/food/

As has been mentioned, there are a lot of documentaries that focus on environmental impact too but I don't know of an "authoritative" reference, ie "one source to rule them all" kind of thing.  

Looking forward to reading your book when it's done!!