ReginaW
Tue, Apr-08-08, 10:44
Oh joy! :rolleyes:
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Boston - This morning, PETA sent a letter to Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick urging him to help cut down on greenhouse-gas emissions by encouraging the state's residents to adopt vegetarian diets, pointing out that meat production is the leading cause of global warming.
PETA's letter was prompted after Massachusetts took the lead among 18 states that filed a legal petition in federal court that could force the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to order cuts in carbon dioxide emissions, which the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled is a pollutant. The petition--which was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington--gives the EPA 60 days to comply with the Supreme Court's ruling to declare whether emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from automobiles and power plants are harmful to human health and, if so, to immediately begin regulating them.
While PETA commends the governor for taking a stand against global warming, the group points out that there's more to be gained by going vegetarian than by increasing restrictions on auto- and power-plant emissions. In its recent report Livestock's Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options, the United Nations determined that raising animals for food generates about 40 percent more greenhouse-gas emissions than all the cars, SUVs, trucks, and airplanes in the world combined.
PETA also points out the numerous health benefits of kicking the meat habit, which include lower rates of heart attacks, diabetes, and various types of cancer--which would mean lower health care costs. PETA also suggests that the governor set an example by making all state meals exclusively vegetarian.
"While waiting for the courts to rule on the petition, the governor can take immediate action against global warming by launching a pro-health, pro-Earth vegetarian initiative today," says PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich. "Because meat production is the main greenhouse-gas culprit, there's no way to go green without forgoing meat."
For more information, please visit PETA's Web site GoVeg.com.
PETA's letter to Gov. Patrick follows.
April 7, 2008
The Honorable Deval Patrick
Governor of Massachusetts
Dear Governor Patrick:
On behalf of PETA and our more than 1.8 million members and supporters, I'm writing to thank you for Massachusetts' leadership in efforts to limit greenhouse-gas emissions. The fight against global warming is critical, and vehicle emissions are a key part of the problem. By focusing on the cars that we drive, however, you're missing an even more critical piece of the climate puzzle: the food that we eat. By establishing programs to encourage Massachusetts residents to switch to a vegetarian diet, you'll make a far bigger dent in global warming than you would by improving vehicle-emission standards.
Please consider the following:
· A 2006 United Nations report determined that raising animals for food generates almost 40 percent more greenhouse-gas emissions than all the cars, trucks, SUVs, ships, and planes in the world combined. The report went on to say that the meat industry is "one of the ... most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global" and recommends that the meat industry "be a major policy focus when dealing with problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity."
· A 2006 University of Chicago study found that adopting a vegan diet reduces a person's greenhouse-gas emissions more than switching from a standard American car to a Toyota Prius.
· According to Environmental Defense, if every American substituted vegetarian food for a chicken meal once per week, the carbon dioxide savings would be about the same as taking more than a half-million cars off U.S. roads.
· The official handbook for Live Earth, the anti-global warming concerts that Al Gore helped organize, says that not eating meat is "the single most effective thing you can do" to reduce your climate change impact (emphasis in original).
We propose that you immediately do the following to address this critical issue:
· Convene an executive panel of top nutrition experts and environmentalists to devise programs to encourage Massachusetts residents to switch to a vegetarian diet.
· Provide information about vegetarianism on your state's Web site.
· Provide vegetarian options in state schools to encourage students to explore vegetarian foods.
· Make all state meals exclusively vegetarian.
Instead of just waiting on the EPA to declare carbon dioxide and other gases from cars harmful and tightening emission standards, you can act now to improve your citizens' health: Vegetarians are less prone to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity than meat-eaters are. Of course, PETA would be happy to put your staff in touch with vegetarian chefs who can help you create delicious gourmet meals for state dinners.
Please contact me to let me know of your plans. Thank you for recognizing the urgency of this issue.
Sincerely,
Lindsay Rajt
Assistant Manager
Factory Farming Campaigns
http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=11243
-----------------------
Boston - This morning, PETA sent a letter to Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick urging him to help cut down on greenhouse-gas emissions by encouraging the state's residents to adopt vegetarian diets, pointing out that meat production is the leading cause of global warming.
PETA's letter was prompted after Massachusetts took the lead among 18 states that filed a legal petition in federal court that could force the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to order cuts in carbon dioxide emissions, which the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled is a pollutant. The petition--which was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington--gives the EPA 60 days to comply with the Supreme Court's ruling to declare whether emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from automobiles and power plants are harmful to human health and, if so, to immediately begin regulating them.
While PETA commends the governor for taking a stand against global warming, the group points out that there's more to be gained by going vegetarian than by increasing restrictions on auto- and power-plant emissions. In its recent report Livestock's Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options, the United Nations determined that raising animals for food generates about 40 percent more greenhouse-gas emissions than all the cars, SUVs, trucks, and airplanes in the world combined.
PETA also points out the numerous health benefits of kicking the meat habit, which include lower rates of heart attacks, diabetes, and various types of cancer--which would mean lower health care costs. PETA also suggests that the governor set an example by making all state meals exclusively vegetarian.
"While waiting for the courts to rule on the petition, the governor can take immediate action against global warming by launching a pro-health, pro-Earth vegetarian initiative today," says PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich. "Because meat production is the main greenhouse-gas culprit, there's no way to go green without forgoing meat."
For more information, please visit PETA's Web site GoVeg.com.
PETA's letter to Gov. Patrick follows.
April 7, 2008
The Honorable Deval Patrick
Governor of Massachusetts
Dear Governor Patrick:
On behalf of PETA and our more than 1.8 million members and supporters, I'm writing to thank you for Massachusetts' leadership in efforts to limit greenhouse-gas emissions. The fight against global warming is critical, and vehicle emissions are a key part of the problem. By focusing on the cars that we drive, however, you're missing an even more critical piece of the climate puzzle: the food that we eat. By establishing programs to encourage Massachusetts residents to switch to a vegetarian diet, you'll make a far bigger dent in global warming than you would by improving vehicle-emission standards.
Please consider the following:
· A 2006 United Nations report determined that raising animals for food generates almost 40 percent more greenhouse-gas emissions than all the cars, trucks, SUVs, ships, and planes in the world combined. The report went on to say that the meat industry is "one of the ... most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global" and recommends that the meat industry "be a major policy focus when dealing with problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity."
· A 2006 University of Chicago study found that adopting a vegan diet reduces a person's greenhouse-gas emissions more than switching from a standard American car to a Toyota Prius.
· According to Environmental Defense, if every American substituted vegetarian food for a chicken meal once per week, the carbon dioxide savings would be about the same as taking more than a half-million cars off U.S. roads.
· The official handbook for Live Earth, the anti-global warming concerts that Al Gore helped organize, says that not eating meat is "the single most effective thing you can do" to reduce your climate change impact (emphasis in original).
We propose that you immediately do the following to address this critical issue:
· Convene an executive panel of top nutrition experts and environmentalists to devise programs to encourage Massachusetts residents to switch to a vegetarian diet.
· Provide information about vegetarianism on your state's Web site.
· Provide vegetarian options in state schools to encourage students to explore vegetarian foods.
· Make all state meals exclusively vegetarian.
Instead of just waiting on the EPA to declare carbon dioxide and other gases from cars harmful and tightening emission standards, you can act now to improve your citizens' health: Vegetarians are less prone to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity than meat-eaters are. Of course, PETA would be happy to put your staff in touch with vegetarian chefs who can help you create delicious gourmet meals for state dinners.
Please contact me to let me know of your plans. Thank you for recognizing the urgency of this issue.
Sincerely,
Lindsay Rajt
Assistant Manager
Factory Farming Campaigns
http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=11243