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- coltrane68, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1There is a good reason that Vice President Gore has not espoused vegetarianism as an environmental cure - his goal has been to take the message of global climate change to mainstream Americans.
While it is clear that a move towards a vegetarian diet would be beneficial to the environment, many of us are happy omnivores. Might it not be more reasonable to ask families to add a "vegetarian night" to their weekly supper plans than to make blanket statements suggesting that no environmentalist can eat meat (see the article).
The problem with the radical vegetarian movement is that it is connected wit the radical animal rights movement, spearheaded by PETA. PETA states that meat-eating (including fish-eating) is immoral, which most Americans would see as a fringe position. More radical positions espoused by PETA - animal research to save human lives is unacceptable, and use of animals of pets is morally unacceptable.
This is not to suggest that dietary change is not environmentally beneficial. Here are some things we all should consider:
1. Eat vegetarian a little more than you do.
2. Buy local produce and meat. This is easier for those of us lucky to have local farms, but saves dramatically in terms of fuel use for transplantation.
3. Do not buy bottled water, except when needed.
4. Support heirlooms and avoid over-hybridized vegetables.
5. Buy organic when the costs are not too high.
6. Ask about the fish you buy. Are the farmed salmon encroaching on natural fish stocks? Do you really need Atlantic cod at a time that the populations are as low as any time in recent history?
In summary, environmental improvement will come from fairly easy, gradual changes, like mindful improvements to diet, improvement in fuel efficiency, use of public transportation when possible, cloth sacks for shopping, compact fluorescent bulbs, and the like. These changes can be enacted on a large scale without making anyone's life too difficult.
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