Like the Greek god Typhon, who threatened heaven with his scorched breath, Glenn Beck creates a firestorm whenever he opens his mouth. The heavens shook and the gods fled when Typhon appeared on that giant TV screen of old -- the sky -- and, now as then, guilt by association is the order of the day. That was clear when I appeared on Glenn Beck's show this week to argue that Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore -- who most of us know as the man who wants us to change our light bulbs and save up to buy a Prius -- is obliged to go vegetarian. (And judging by the results of a Los Angeles Times poll this week, it would seem that if he fails to kick his meat habit in the noble cause of saving the Earth, the scorn he felt when driving a Lincoln Town Car will look like small potatoes indeed.)
Soon after appearing on Beck's show, I found out that it wasn't only George W. Bush and that Darth Vader-like hunter Dick Cheney who were hell-bent on destroying our right to say what we want to say, where and when we want to say it. Liberal blogs screamed over my "stupidity," "gall," and "balls" in appearing on FOX and, sin of sins, on that show. Didn't I realize I was "used"? (One might ask who was using whom when some 30,000 people came to PETA.org after the show, and more than 9,000 of them stayed to watch Alec Baldwin's video "Meat Your Meat."
Didn't I know that Al Gore is a saint, off-limits and that PETA is obliged to support anything the left does, right or wrong? This very gripe is usually offered up by the right to lambaste its opponents. At least both sides agree on something.
PETA's history contradicts the theory that either side is always correct. The fact is, for the last 30 years, we have been an equal opportunity critic, scrutinizing the actions of everyone from President Reagan to President Obama. Wear a fur hat or buy a purebred dog and we will say what we need to say -- on behalf of the foxes in steel traps with fear in their hearts or the dogs sitting at the pound with hope in their eyes. Some days, that means we lose more members than we gain, but we are not hobbyists or begging to be cuddled, so we do not back away from criticizing cruelty no matter who wields the cudgel or, in this case, the steak knife.
For those who think PETA started out with a battering ram, please know that we have long tried privately to cajole, convince and even cook for Mr. Gore. We've offered to send him a famous chef with impeccable credentials and a mouthwatering culinary repertoire, provide him with nutrition experts and praise him mightily for dipping his toe into it all by taking PETA's 30-day "veg pledge." We have pointed out that the United Nations, the Worldwatch Institute and even his own Live Earth agree that going vegetarian is the most effective step that anyone can take to combat climate change.
That's why he has only himself to blame for the blows dealt him this week from the BBC's Mr. Paxman, ABC's Ms. Sawyer and other commentators. Yes, he's the son of a Black Angus rancher. My father climbed mountains and went out in to the ocean in small boats during storms, but I'm not following suit. He protests that eating meat is a "personal choice" and tries to excuse his penchant for a daily steak (sometimes two, we hear from a reliable source) because he finds it "too hard" to "give up" meat? Driving a Hummer for the hell of it is a personal choice, and how hard can it be to go vegetarian when this week's New York Times list of best-selling hardback advice books shows chef Tal Ronnen's The Conscious Cook sitting pretty at number three and Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet at number five? Both are vegan -- not just vegetarian -- cookbooks that I dare anyone to open without drooling. Last week, Chipotle at Dupont Circle in Washington test-marketed a Gardein vegan "chicken" burrito. It sold out almost instantly, and an emergency supply of these delicious little medallions of soy protein had to be dispatched to meet demand.
Take a look at these few facts among the many: A 2006 United Nations report concluded that the meat industry produces about 40 percent more greenhouse gas emissions than all the world's transportation systems -- that's all the cars, trucks, SUVs, planes and ships in the world combined; Worldwatch estimates that filthy factory farms, transport and all the related parts of putting the nugget into the bucket and the burger into the bun account for 51 per cent of all greenhouse-gas emissions; and that animal-based agriculture is responsible for deforestation, river contamination and 130 times more manure than the whole human population produces.
However, considering that "water wars" are widely believed to be the ones we'll wage in the future, we have asked Mr. Gore to consider one other fact: It takes 2,400 gallons of water to bring 1 pound of flesh to the table. The threat from draining the water from our own aquifers to feed "livestock" should be chillingly familiar to those who have witnessed the crises and bloodshed that spring from depletions of gas and oil. That tidbit alone should be enough to compel Mr. Gore to give a vegetarian diet a whirl. As leading climate change expert Lord Stern told The London Times last week, "Meat is a wasteful use of water. ... It puts enormous pressure on the world's resources."
Of course, Mr. Gore isn't the only public figure who should wave the steak plate away. Appendicitis is related to high meat consumption, and this week, Mr. Beck was rushed to the hospital to have his appendix removed. I'm sure there are many people who wish the hospital had taken his vocal cords along with it, but although Mr. Beck disagrees with almost everything PETA stands for, our position is that "we may not agree with what you say, but ..." we'll gladly come on your show to defend our right to hold our own views.
Kathy Freston: Eating Animals: Why Eating Matters
If ever there was a book that could profoundly affect our lives at the most fundamental level, this one is it.
Wayne Pacelle: One Lone Voice Against Animal Welfare
I've been encouraged, even heartened, by the swift and broad reaction to The Humane Society of the United States' recent undercover investigations of wanton animal...
School Food Authorities Affected by Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. Beef Recall February 2006 – February 2008
http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/safety/Hallmark-Westland_byState.pdf
http://downercattle.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
BSE RISK USA UPDATE NOVEMBER 2009
http://bseusa.blogspot.com/2009/11/bse-risk-usa-update-november-2009.html
TSS
Well, it seems that British officials were concerned about an insect called the "warble fly". They mandated that all farmers begin using a product called Organo-phosphates by spraying it on the backs of cattle. OPs can act as a nerve poison. Now what lies directly under the skin of the back of not only humans - but also cattle? The spinal column (nerves).
Just as GW is controversial, and is difficult prove, or disprove - in this instance, it is much more likely that the cause of BSE in cattle - and perhaps also nvCJD in humans - is OP chemical poisoning.
But this theory threatens powerful chemical companies and government agencies who mandated farmers to spray their cattle with OP chemicals/ And so this common-sense theory goes largely suppressed. After all, Britain also mandated the extermination of millions of cattle (to rid the herd from the disease). That would be a large (expensive) pill to swallow for them - to admit that it was OPs that caused the problem.
Curious thing is that if one sprays your vegetable crops with OPs . . . guess
I SO AGREE! My bf was upset with me for not tolerating Gore's HUGE faux pas...I guess because he shouldn't be criticized at all?
BS!!! Mr. Gore knows better. He has so far, FAILED miserably with the truth. He has engaged in willful ignorance...no, it's not acceptable. Sorry! You are weak Mr. Gore and not fit to be in the role you are in now. You are a wealthy man, nothing is stopping you from going veg but your own weakness. Sorry.
Changing lightbulbs will not save our butts. It is so irresponsible to leave out the most important part of this and that is MEAT.
THANK YOU INGRID for telling the truth!
Animal emissions are derived from plant materials that if they were allowed to decay would emit something close to the same amount gases. This is illustrated by the methane gas extracted from Landfills.
Hydrocarbons used to fuel combustion has been locked in either a solid form or in a liquid form trapped within the Earth.and could not be released by decay and require some external ignition.
Therefore=
Carbon emitted by Plant Decay = Carbon emitted by Animals that would have eaten Plants
net difference is negligible
Carbon emitted by Oil and Coal in natural state = 0
Carbon emitted by combustion of O and C >> 0..
with the hydrocarbons we are actually adding more carbon sources to the biosphere by bringing them to the surface and releasing COs by burning.
If we didn't feed the animals to make meat, it wouldn't be a problem.
I need help understand the logic of this article, which seems to promote vegetarianism as a way of eliminating the detrimental effects of the confined animal industry, and promoting the ethical treatment of animals.
A vegetarian is someone who eats plant and animal foods. The animal foods are dairy and/or eggs.
Dairy comes from cows, and eggs come from hens. There is nothing ethical about the treatment of cows on dairy farms, or the treatment of hens in the egg industry. Both industries require the confinement of animals, either to rob them of the milk nature designed for calves, or to rob hens of eggs nature designed to be fertilized. Both require the systematic killing of these animals after their productive years are over.
While switching from meat to dairy/eggs may reduce the confined animal population somewhat, it certainly does not eliminate the ecological or ethical ills created by animal farming.
Most vegetarians and vegans eat plant foods produced by agricultural machinery that kills and maims millions of ground-living animals in a very cruel fashion, and requires tons of toxic chemicals that poison all of us.
An eating plan designed by nature (not humans) for our species can be found in "The Original Diet."
Roy Mankovitz, Director
http://www.MontecitoWellness.com
Your job as an organization is to inform and education and, I guess, cause a public commotion every now and then.
It is not to stage personal vendettas against individuals.
PETA is not the only anti-meat game in town. I can throw my support elsewhere.
If Al Gore drives around a fleet of SUVs, would you get angry with anyone who criticized his "personal choice" to drive whatever he wants while promoting what he does?
Animal products is the leading cause of expensive disease in this country. If we don't change our diets, it will bankrupt us if we get governmental healthcare.
And, I agree. The Pelosi plan will probably spell worse healthcare. Waiting times, less choice, less quality, the whole thing. It's the nature of the beast.
pollutes our environment. By going vegan, people would help - not only
Earth - but their health ; since eating animals is linked to cancer.
But, the PETA/Vegan argument is based on a fallacy. It assumes that we've always produced meat the way we currently do, when the switch to CAFO's is relatively recent. Several decades ago, ranchers in the West were overgrazing land, and even doing so on public land. A cry went up to save the environment. Rather than instituting sustainable grazing practices, it was decided that we should confine livestock and feed it grain from farms. The idea being that it would require less land.
And now we have this situation, terrible as it is. The answer, if we listen to PETA is to give up meat. We could just cut way back on meat intake, and be careful about where we obtain our meat. Good pasture practice is not only sustainable but environmentally beneficial, more beneficial than farming soy beans. And grass, the preferred diet of ruminants grows in places that we can't farm soy, etc.
Cows shouldn't be eating people food in the first damned place. When they eat grass they're converting vegetation that humans can't digest into protein. See how that works?
P.S. How come the compassion of PETA doesn't extend to plants? Who says they aren't sentient?
If you read up on cognitive science you will see strong evidence for consciousness of pigs, cows and so on. There is no evidence for conscious plants. Read this: http://www.veganoutreach.org/guide/qa.html#plantsfeeltoo
He's a selfish excusitarian.
He has a moral compass of (in)convenience.
PETA isn't arguing for human rights. It's not that they don't believe in them, it just isn't their cause. I support abortion rights, but it isn't really a cause important to me, so I don't attend rallies for it or worry about it too much.
PATHETIC.