Al Gore: Let’s talk about meat

For immediate release
Contact: Pamela Rice
212-242-0011 • info@vivavegie.org


Demonstration at Mr. Gore's book signing
Union Square Barnes & Noble
33 East 17th St.
Manhattan
Date: Friday, May 25th
VivaVegie demonstration:
starts at 11:45 a.m. in front of the store
RSVP:
212-242-0011
info@vivavegie.org

Demonstration urges Al Gore to acknowledge meat as an important driver in climate change

Dear Mr. Al Gore:

The world commends you for bringing vital attention to the issue of climate change. It congratulates you for winning the Best Documentary Feature at the 2007 Academy Awards for An Inconvenient Truth, your groundbreaking film.

Because of you, the world has rightly been jolted into recognizing the issues of climate change.

It takes three-quarters of a gallon of oil to produce a pound of beef (4 quarter-pounders).

But now we all want to know what we can do about it. And we’re hearing many useful tips on how to change our daily routines to alleviate the impacts of greenhouse gases in the environment. We’re changing our light bulbs. We’re buying high-mileage cars. We’re dreaming up new green businesses to reduce the shoe-size of our ecological footprint.

But even if we do all of this, a silent trend is working in the background that surely will wipe out all of our gains. We’re eating too much meat—meat that from a health standpoint is far in excess. And the world is on a trajectory to double its consumption of meat by mid-century. Indeed, all of our efforts to cut greenhouse emissions will be wiped out if we don’t reduce our meat consumption.

And people need to hear this from you, Mr. Gore, as the person with the most credibility to get this fact out there. If they hear it from you, they will listen.

It is an environmental imperative for humans to reduce their consumption of animal-based foods.

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Following are some pertinent facts regarding livestock production and greenhouse gas emissions from the 400-page 2006 report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Livestock’s Long Shadow. Scroll down for the link to the pdf-formatted version of the report.

The livestock sector is a major player in climate change, responsible for 18 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.

Livestock emit 37 percent of human-induced methane (with 23 times the global-warming potential of carbon dioxide). Most of this methane is produced by burping ruminants.

Livestock emit 65 percent of human-induced nitrous oxide (with 296 times the global-warming potential of carbon dioxide). Most of this nitrous oxide is produced by the manure of the animals.

Livestock are also responsible for 64 percent of human-induced ammonia emissions, which contribute significantly to acid rain and acidification of ecosystems.

The livestock sector is by far the single largest anthropogenic (human-caused) user of land. The total area occupied by grazing is equivalent to 26 percent of the ice-free terrestrial surface of the planet. In addition, the total area dedicated to feed-crop production amounts to 33 percent of total arable land. In all, livestock production accounts for 70 percent of all agricultural land and 30 percent of the land surface of the planet.

Expansion of livestock production is a key factor in deforestation, especially in Latin America where the greatest amount of deforestation is occurring—70 percent of previously forested land in the Amazon is occupied by pastures, and feed crops cover a large part of the remainder.


VivaVegie Society
501(c)3 non-profit, educational organization
One Union Square West
Suite 512
New York, NY 10003
212-242-0011
VivaVegie Society is an nonprofit organization that has been educating the public about vegetarianism since 1991.

Source: Al Gore: Let’s talk about meat

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PETA plea to Al Gore (en)

30. September 2006 - Deutschland (de)