AR-News: (NC) letter: Your diet as an environmental-action plan

[MEATSTINKS at aol.com]

Letter to the Editor, Mountain Xpress, Asheville, NC 05-05-04
http://mountainx.com/opinion/letters.php
Your diet as an environmental-action plan
On Earth Day, I listened to the Rush Limbaugh show. The "big fat idiot" 
ranted against "environmentalist wackos" – laughing at and taunting anyone who 
thinks that the environment matters. I've heard a lot of references to the Earth 
Liberation Front as an extremist group, but to my mind, Limbaugh's position is 
equally extreme. 
Most mainstream-media coverage of Earth Day predictably presented the 
obligatory stories about recycling, turning the water off while brushing your teeth, 
checking tire pressure and planting a tree. The only story dealing with Earth 
Day on the local evening news featured George Bush talking about wetlands 
preservation.
Gag me.
That evening, I picked up the Mountain Xpress [April 21] and read an 
excellent [commentary] about the Apollo Alliance's 10-point plan to help America take 
charge of its energy future. All excellent ideas, but ones that require the 
votes of our "leaders." Let's not hold our breath.
None will be voted in under the GOP (Gang of Polluters), and it's doubtful 
any would take place under a Kerry administration either. Remember that Al Gore 
wrote a compelling book about the need to address global environmental 
concerns, yet as vice president he couldn't even get improved automobile mileage 
(CAFE) standards implemented.
Missing from the small steps presented by the mainstream media and the 
sensible proposals of the Apollo Alliance is an important step that people can take 
all by themselves: Eating lower on the food chain is powerful environmental 
action. The Worldwatch Institute says that "livestock account for 15 to 20 
percent of [overall] global methane emission" and "American feed [for livestock] 
takes so much energy to grow that it might as well be a petroleum byproduct." 
The meat industry causes more water pollution in the United States than all 
other industries combined. 
To learn more about how food choices affect the planet, read Food Revolution 
by John Robbins (available at the Asheville library). For a free Vegetarian 
Starter Kit, visit www.GoVeg.com or call 1-888-VEG-FOOD.
– Stewart David 
Asheville
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