Could you become a vegetarian (to save the planet)?

OK, let's assume you aren't vegetarian, or vegan for that matter. Could this information sway you to give up meat?:

• One-third of all fossil fuels produced in the US are used to raise animals for food (energy spent raising grain and soy; tilling, irrigation and crop dusting; transportation of food to feedlot and animals to slaughterhouse and dead animals to processing plant; packaging; trucking to the grocery store...multiplied by 10 billion animals per year)
• ...not to mention the air pollution that results from fossil fuels being spent
• Animal manure pollutes the water and sends methane into the air (one dairy cow produces 100 pounds of excrement per day...can this be true?)
• Huge amounts of water are used to feed the animals and grow crops to feed them

I got this info from the folks at GoVeg.com, who of course want you to give up meat. But I've always been aware of the fact that raising animals, particularly cows, for food is detrimental to the planet. We received an email from a reader, which is what has got me asking the question, "Could I give up meat? Or at least beef?" She wrote:

I recently heard on NPR and have read elsewhere that going vegetarian is the best thing you can do for the environment, hands down.  It makes the biggest impact.  It's all about the Energy Pyramid and land use. I'm trying to get back into it.  I've been pretty successful so far.  Not so easy for the rest of the family.

I don't think I could give up meat entirely. I do like chicken. And duck. And a big, juicy steak. Oh, stop! OK, I probably could give up red meat because I did it for five years way back in my 20s. But I'm married to a dedicated carnivore and I've spawned one as well...I just don't think the family would get on board. But if those 'facts' mentioned above are indeed true, well it's pretty awful. For the most part my family buys meat that is raised sustainably: organic chicken from a local farm and grass-fed beef. But considering how much meat the average American consumes, I don't think that small organic animal farms could feed everyone.

Could you give up meat for the planet? And if you have, did you do it cold turkey (ha ha)? No really, do you have any tips for transitioning a meat-eating family to a meat-free one?