Everyone agrees: our economy is sick. The inescapable symptoms include declines in consumer spending and consumer confidence, together with a contraction of international trade and available credit. Add a collapse in real estate values and carnage in the automotive and airline industries and the picture looks grim indeed. [...more]
At first blush, global warming seems to be a great hook for those of us promoting animal-friendly eating, but there are two problems: [...more]
Global climate change is directly related to agriculture through the loss of wilderness to farmland, methane released from animals, and energy-intensive fertilizers, pesticides, food processing and transportation. [...more]
Unchecked global warming would leave ocean dwellers gasping for breath. Dead zones are low-oxygen areas in the ocean where higher life forms such as fish, crabs and clams are not able to live. In shallow coastal regions, these zones can be caused by runoff of excess fertilizers from farming. A team of Danish researchers have now shown that unchecked global warming would lead to a dramatic expansion of low-oxygen areas zones in the global ocean by a factor of 10 or more. [...more]
SAN FRANCISCO, CA–Concern about increasing ocean acidification has often focused on its potential effects on coral reefs, but broader disruptions of biological processes in the oceans may be more significant, according to Donald Potts, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an expert in coral reef ecology [...] [...more]
Exactly 20 years have passed since Dr. James E. Hansen of NASA first testified to Congress on June 23, 1988 that global temperatures had risen beyond the range of natural variability. Waiting another 20 years before taking decisive action is not an option. [...more]
An article in the current issue of Environmental Health Perspectives highlights the connection between animal agriculture and the most pressing environmental issue of our time—climate change. Published in the peer-reviewed journal of the U.S. government's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, a subdivision of the National Institutes of Health, the piece written by staff members of The Humane Society of the United States will reach public health and environmental experts and policy makers worldwide. [...more]
Campaign Is First Ever National Consumer Initiative to Address Climate Change Crisis through Food Choices Sign-On “Cool Foods” Pledge Encourages Restaurants and Food Retailers to Reduce Their “Foodprint” by Making Responsible and Sustainable Food Choices New York, NY, April 16th, 2008 - This afternoon the Center for Food Safety and the CornerStone Campaign announced the launch [...] [...more]
It was one of the dumbest "green" ideas ever proposed: Convert millions of acres of cropland into fields for growing ethanol from corn, then burn fossil fuels to harvest the ethanol, expending more energy to extract the fuel than you get from the fuel itself! Meanwhile, sit back and proclaim you've achieved a monumental green victory (President Bush, anyone?) all while unleashing a dangerous spike in global food prices that's causing a ripple effect of food shortages and rationing around the world. [...more]
Forest and climate change campaigner Jutta Kill explains why planting trees is no substitute for reducing pollution. [...more]
