Roundup of Tidbits

• The USDA is paying dead farmers $1.1 billion!
  

  For 1999 through 2005, USDA paid $1.1 billion in farm payments in the names of 172,801 deceased individuals (either as an individual recipient or as a member of an entity). Of this total, 40 percent went to those who had been dead for 3 or more years, and 19 percent to those dead for 7 or more years.

• The Farm Bill is up for House vote today. It will reach the Senate in September.
• This is just strange. And funny. Airport security seized a “dense clay-like substance” – a block of cheese!
• This makes me embarassed to live in California. Obesity is in a never-ending downward spiral.
• Another nutritious bar reaching the market. Vegan, organic, and raw! No wonder it’s named he Raw Organic Food Bar.
• Killer whales are the most poluted European arctic mammal. Just more proof that the animal rights movement and the environmental sustainability movement are interconnected beyond belief.

Everyone’s Talking

So, every day I check a list of news sites and blogs to get up to speed on the goings-on of the world. Over the past few days I have noticed a major increase in articles relating animal production to greenhouse gases. Also, I’ve been sent emails, from family and DawnWatch, stressing those points. I guess what confuses me is that we have known about this for a long time. Granted the study the UN came out with, showing that meat production releases 18% more greenhouse gases than all transporation combined, has been fairly recent. Anyway, I wanted to get my two cents into the conversation since it seems to have become such a hot topic.

I was sent this little nugget of information. It states,

2.2lb of beef is responsible for greenhouse gas emissions which have the same effect as the carbon dioxide released by an ordinary car travelling at 50 miles per hour for 155 miles, a journey lasting three hours. The amount of energy consumed would light a 100-watt bulb for 20 days.

…Some trivia for you.

For a complete look at the issues, check out my guest posts over at ThrillingHeroics where I wrote a two part series on veganism and sustainability.

EPA Protects Factory Farms

Nearly 2,600 factory farms have made an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency in which the farms will pay a small civil penalty fee and permit the EPA to monitor the farms as part of a study on emissions. What do the factory farms get out of it? They can produce as much air polution and stench as they want, and they can’t be sued. The EPA says that this agreement is the most sensible way to study farm emissions.

Eight universities are conducting the study which will last 30 months. The worst part is that of those 2,600 farms that entered into the agreement, only 24 animal feeding operations will be studied in nine states. To read more, check out this article.

Save the Birds

Altamont Pass, California house the states largest wind farm with 5,400 turbines. These turbines kill up to 1,300 birds every year often by dismembarment or beheading. The wind farm is situated right next to the largest habitat of golden eagles. The birds utilize this airspace for the same reason the turbines do; Good wind for migration. Now studies are being conducted to reduce the number of bird deaths and plans for safety measures are in the works.

Playing Catch-Up

I’ve been gone for the past few day, but this should make up for it.

• Brazilian fishermen illegally net and soffocate 83 dolphins, then proceed to laugh about it – caught on tape. Apperently, dolphin jaws, eyes, and penises are sold for good luck, fortune, and women. Yeah, every time I see a guy eating some ground dolphin penis I can’t help but throw myself at him.
• After a recent flood in China, the country is being overrun by rats. Citizens have been poisoning the burdens, causing unknown harm to the soil and environment. The rat population has grown so extensive they are now being sold as food in live markets.
• Check out this post with 62 uses for vinegar. Granted, not all 62 are veg friendly, but who knew vinegar could relieve jellyfish stings?
• Corn crops and production will cause the largest dead zone ever in the Gulf of Mexico, estimated to reach 8,500 square miles.
• “The National Park Service is cutting down hundreds of acres of trees on the Gettysburg Battlefield to restore historical accuracy.” Since when does accuracy mean destroying nature. Come on now, no one needs to see the exact battlefield that bad.
• Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna was thought to be extinct untill a tribesman told researchers that he just ate one.

Pooping PSA

This is a PSA that was aired at Live Earth. The messege is to go vegetarian one day a week. It’s a clever PSA, but I will warn you: poop. Check it out!

Eco-Kosher

In the U.S., there ae about 5.2 million Jews, 15 % of which keep strict kosher. What is becoming more popular though is the eco-kosher diet. According to Grist,

Its followers seek nourishment that not only adheres to traditional Jewish dietary laws, but is also local, organic, sustainable, and humane.

A label will soon be generated to make it easier for those looking to support processors with these ethical values. This segment of the diet will include roughly 100,000 items which may have substantial positive effects on the environment.

Tourism Hurting the Galapagos

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) announced that the amount of tourism through the Galapagos Islands is endangering its delicate ecosystem. Tourism has boomed in the Islands over the past 15 years, making it necessary for Unesco to put the Galapagos on its List of World Heritage in Danger. To learn more about the condition of the Galapagos, visit TreeHugger.com

Saving Austrailian Wildlife

Austrailian leaders are planning to build a 1,740 mile corridor for wildlife and vegetation to escape some of the effects of global warming. This corridor will span the east coast where forest and vegetation is already flourishing.

The most recent of global warming issue in Austrailia is a study by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization which proves the southeast coastal waters of the continent are warming at a quicker rate than any other areas in the southern hemisphere.

Veganism and Sustainability: Part 2

Be sure to head over to ThrillingHeroics.com and check out the second half of my article on veganism and sustainability!