10/29/2010 JVNA Online Newsletter

Shalom everyone,

This update/Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter has the following items:

1. Seeking Volunteers/Getting Our Messages Out More Effectively

2. Important New Way To Increase Knowledge of Jewish Teachings on Vegetarianism and To Spread Our Vegetarian Message

3. More on Climate Change and the Midterm U.S. Elections

4. “Republicans for Environmental Protection” (REP) Has Wonderful Material on Climate Change and Other Environmental issues

5. Climate Change IS a National Security Issue

6. Action Alert: Support Efforts to Make the UN Climate Conference in Mexico Meat-Free

7. My Co-Authored Article Linking Animal-Based Diets to Climate Change Published

8. Fish Farming Causing Major Environmental Problems/Threatening Oceans

Some material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.

[Materials in brackets like this [ ] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]

Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, material re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsement by JVNA or endorsement of the kashrut, Shabbat observances, or any other Jewish observances, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in. Also, JVNA does not necessarily agree with all positions of groups whose views are included or whose events are announced in this newsletter.

As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.

Thanks,

Richard

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1. Seeking Volunteers/Getting Our Messages Out More Effectively

As I have often stated, we have truth, morality, justice and other positive values on our side, but we do not have the resources we need to get our messages out as much as we would like. We are willing to engage in respectful dialogues on “Should Jews Be Vegetarians?” but the establishment continues to duck the issues. And, with the increasing reports about climate-related events and about connections of animal-based diets to climate change, it is more and more important that people realize that a major shift to vegetarianism is essential to help shift our imperiled planet to a sustainable path.

So, please help spread the Jewish and general vegetarian messages as much as you can.

• Make people aware of the many articles and other material at the JVNA web site JewishVeg.com, including my over 140 articles and 25 podcasts of my talks and interviews at JewishVeg.com/Schwartz.
  
  
• Inform people that our acclaimed, award-winning documentary “Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal the world” can be seen at ASacredDuty.com. If possible arrange for a showing of the documentary.
  
  
• Write letters to editors and call in to talk shows.
  
  
• Speak to your friends, neighbors, family, co-workers and others.

In addition, we could use volunteers to help spread our message. What would be especially valuable would be to compile email lists of Jewish publications, rabbis, synagogues, Jewish community centers and Jewish and health-related blogs. If you can help with this, please let me know. Many thanks.

And please consider vegetarian, animal rights and environmental issues when you vote and please urge others to do so as well. Thanks.

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2. Important New Way To Increase Knowledge of Jewish Teachings on Vegetarianism and To Spread Our Vegetarian Message

I received the following message from a student in Israel:

Hi,

First of all I am a huge fan. I have read your book, not the latest edition yet though got to get my hands on one, and am a Jewish Vegan myself. I am currently studying at Pardes in Jerusalem and working on going through your online course with a hevruta [learning partner] and tracing your sources, which is simply fascinating to see all this work that I had never known existed. I was wondering if anyone had ever tried attempting to create a vegan commentary to the chumash or even a parsha of the week style publication? I was interested in doing a project like this and was wondering what resources are out there that would be good for me to check out. Again, thanks so much for your contribution and help to validate veg from a Jewish perspective. You definitely helped me defend myself and my wife against some pretty tough Haredi critics.

-David Bookbinder

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I have been in touch with David and sent him some background material. He hopes to work with a few other students at the Pardes Institute in increasing our knowledge of Jewish sources on vegetarianism and to increase awareness. I am sending him a copy of my book “Judaism and Vegetarianism” and a DVD of “A Sacred Duty.”

If you would like to help on this project, please let me know. Thanks.

Please check David’s new blog on veganism at: judeovegan.blogspot.com

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3. More on Climate Change and the Midterm U.S. Elections

Please consider vegetarian, animal rights and environmental issues when you vote and please urge others to do so as well. Thanks.

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Climate Change Doubt Is Tea Party Article of Faith

By JOHN M. BRODER

October 20, 2010

NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/21/us/politics/21climate.html?hp

JASPER, Ind. — At a candidate forum here last week, Representative Baron P. Hill, a threatened Democratic incumbent in a largely conservative southern Indiana district, was endeavoring to explain his unpopular vote for the House cap-and-trade energy bill.

It will create jobs in Indiana, reduce foreign oil imports and address global warming, Mr. Hill said at a debate with Todd Young, a novice Republican candidate who is supported by an array of Indiana Tea Party groups and is a climate change skeptic.

“Climate change is real, and man is causing it,” Mr. Hill said, echoing most climate scientists. “That is indisputable. And we have to do something about it.”

A rain of boos showered Mr. Hill, including a hearty growl from Norman Dennison, a 50-year-old electrician and founder of the Corydon Tea Party.

“It’s a flat-out lie,” Mr. Dennison said in an interview after the debate, adding that he had based his view on the preaching of Rush Limbaugh and the teaching of Scripture. “I read my Bible,” Mr. Dennison said. “He made this earth for us to utilize.”

Skepticism and outright denial of global warming are among the articles of faith of the Tea Party movement, here in Indiana and across the country. For some, it is a matter of religious conviction; for others, it is driven by distrust of those they call the elites. And for others still, efforts to address climate change are seen as a conspiracy to impose world government and a sweeping redistribution of wealth. But all are wary of the Obama administration’s plans to regulate carbon dioxide, a ubiquitous gas, which will require the expansion of government authority into nearly every corner of the economy.

“This so-called climate science is just ridiculous,” said Kelly Khuri, founder of the Clark County Tea Party Patriots. “I think it’s all cyclical.”

“Carbon regulation, cap and trade, it’s all just a money-control avenue,” Ms. Khuri added. “Some people say I’m extreme, but they said the John Birch Society was extreme, too.”

SNIP

I hope you will read the entire article, as it has much valuable information. Thanks.

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NY Times Article Discusses How Climate Change Issue Is Being Used Against Democratic Candidates

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-climate-politics-20101027,0,1584392.story

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4. “Republicans for Environmental Protection” (REP) Has Wonderful Material on Climate Change and Other Environmental issues

While, as indicated before, almost all Republican politicians are in denial about climate change, there is a wonderful group “Republicans for Environmental Protection” that is promoting positive responses to climate change and other environmental threats. I have been in touch with their dedicated president, urging him to issue a statement and/or take some other action to help get climate change onto the midterm electoral agenda. He is sympathetic and supportive, but so far has taken no action. Please visit their web site

http://www.repamerica.org/

Then please contact their president (Rob Sisson: rsisson@rep.org; commend him and REP for their environmental positions, and urge him to help get climate change to be an issue for the elections. This has the potential of making a major difference, since so many Republicans are in denial on what should be a major campaign issue.

Some of REP’s very good material on climate change and other environmental issues can be found at the following web sites:

http://www.rep.org/opinions/op-eds/141.html

http://climateconservative.org/Audio_Podcast_interview_with_George_Shultz_July_19_2010.mp3

http://www.rep.org/climate_presentation.html

www.climateconservative.org

http://www.rep.org/C.E.P.Quarterly_spring09.pdf (God’s Climate Plan)

Their website has hundreds of pieces, published all around the country.

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Letter from JVNA advisor Rina Deych to the REP president:

Thank you for your site promoting environmental protection

It's refreshing to find a Republican group that does not deny global warming. Unfortunately, you are in the extreme minority. Most people - Democrats, Republicans, and others, are not aware that animal agriculture is responsible for more greenhouse gas production than all forms of transportation combined. A shift by our species to a plant-based diet (or even a substantial reduction in animal products) is not only healthier, but could dramatically reduce emissions and slow the progression of global warming.

It would be wonderful if your group would take a public stand on the contribution of animal agriculture to global warming. You can find some resources on the page I created for the vegan presentation I did at my hospital: http://rrrina.com/earthday2010.htm.

Please consider taking a firm public stand on our responsibility as inhabitants of this planet to care for it and protect it. Your rational influence on mainstream Republicans is essential in waking them up to the harsh realities of our troubled planet.

As a registered nurse, humanitarian, and environmentalist, I thank you for your efforts.

Rina Deych, RN

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Brooklyn, NY 11219

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5. Climate Change IS a National Security Issue

Check out Operation Free: http://www.operationfree.net/

They are a good resource for building the security argument related to climate change.

In 2007 a major report by 11 retired U.S. admirals and generals stressed that climate change was a multiplier for terrorism, since increasingly severe droughts, storms, floods, wildfires and other effects of climate change would result in millions of hungry, thirsty desperate refugees and this would increase instability and violence.

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6.Action Alert: Support Efforts to Make the UN Climate Conference in Mexico Meat-Free

From: solution@meatfreecop16.org

Subject: Meat Free COP16 - Truly the First Sustainable Choice

Forwarded message:

I kindly approach you with a request to assist us in supporting this current campaign focusing on MeatFreeCOP16. 

AS you may be aware the climate change conference COP16 is weeks away and it is necessary for our delegates to reflect in their actions the findings of various official reports on how livestock and animal products are detrimental to the planet and how by switching to a vegan would be the first sustainable approach for a solution to climate change. I kindly ask that you share our campaign, which encourages delegates attending COP16 to maintain a meat free diet. We sincerely appreciate your time and consideration to this matter. 
Please sign send and share with others http://meatfreecop16.org.

The success of this campaign relies on people like you, and your friends and family. We sincerely thank you again for your interest; together we can have a huge impact!

For further information on the science, the reports and more please visit

www.MeatFreeCOP16.org English

(http://meatfreecop16.org/espanol Español 

(http://meatfreecop16.org/chinese/ 中文)



Thank You,
Stephen
MeatFreeCOP16 Team

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7. My Co-Authored Article Linking Animal-Based Diets to Climate Change Published

http://world.edu/content/global-warming-personally/

Many thanks to author, professor and JVNA advisor Dan Brook for his great help on this article and getting it published.

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Fan mail about the article:

Loved your article so much, and the fact that I got this today, on the heels of a wonderful town meeting speaker from ACE about global warming, I assigned it to my students for homework reading. If I get thoughtful responses to the question "which path are you on?" I'll send them on to you...

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8. Fish Farming Causing Major Environmental Problems/Threatening Oceans

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/28/business/energy-environment/28iht-rbobfish.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

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10/21//2010 JVNA Online Newsletter

Shalom everyone,

This update/Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter has the following items:

1. Getting Climate Change and Other Environmental Issues Onto the U.S. 2010 Midterm Election Agenda

2. Working with “Republicans for Environmental Protection” To Get Climate Change T Be An Issue in the 2010 Midterm Elections

3. A Chance to Influence Delegates to the Winter UN Cancun Mexico Climate Conference to Put Dietary Connections to Climate Change on the Conference Agenda

4. Articles on Republican Candidates for Congress Denial on Climate Change

5. NY Times Editorial – GOP in Climate Denial, Again/My Letter to the Editor

6. Another Way to Promote Jewish Vegetarianism

7. JVNA Vice President Noam Mohr Compiles Statistics on the Number of Animals slaughtered to Feed Americans Annually

8. Is the World Getting Hotter?

9. Environmental Costs of Livestock Production

Some material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.

[Materials in brackets like this [ ] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]

Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, material re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsement by JVNA or endorsement of the kashrut, Shabbat observances, or any other Jewish observances, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in. Also, JVNA does not necessarily agree with all positions of groups whose views are included or whose events are announced in this newsletter.

As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.

Thanks,

Richard

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1. Getting Climate Change and Other Environmental Issues Onto the U.S. 2010 Midterm Election Agenda

There is a major scientific consensus that climate change is happening, is largely due to human activities, and is a major threat to all life on the planet, as evidenced by MANY peer-reviewed articles in respected scientific journals and statements by scientific academies all over the world. Yet, every Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, with one possible exception, and almost all, if not all, Republican candidates for the House of Representatives are in denial on this issue, as indicated in several of the articles below. If, as predicted, many climate deniers win elections and the Republicans take control of at least one house of congress, prospects for avoiding a climate catastrophe will become very slim.

So, please do all that you can to get this issue onto the electoral agenda. Thanks.

Some ideas and background information is in the items below.

Comments, suggestions and contrary opinions welcome, and will be considered for the next JVNA newsletter. We have always tried to be non-partisan, but at a time when the world is rapidly approaching an unprecedented climate catastrophe, it is essential that we do everything possible to prevent it. Please see the next item about “Republicans for Environmental Protection” (REP)

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2. Working with “Republicans for Environmental Protection” To Get Climate Change T Be An Issue in the 2010 Midterm Elections

While, as indicated above, almost all Republican politicians are in denial about climate change, there is a wonderful group “Republicans for Environmental Protection” that is promoting positive responses to climate change and other environmental threats. I have been in touch with their dedicated president, urging him to issue a statement and/or take some other action to help get climate change onto the midterm electoral agenda. He is sympathetic and supportive, but so far has taken no action. Please visit their web site

http://repamerica.org/.

Then please contact their president (Rob Sisson: rsisson@rep.org; 269-651-1808), commend him and REP for their environmental positions, and urge him to help get climate change to be an issue for the elections. This has the potential of making a major difference, since so many Republicans are in denial on what should be a major campaign issue.

Many thanks.

The material below was forwarded to us by an anonymous JVNA advisor, after visiting the REP web site::

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We are glad to hear that Republicans For Environmental Protection, headed by Rob Sisson, is restoring balance and sanity to the ongoing national (and international) discussions about recognizing and addressing ecological crises -- and at the top of the list, global warming.

Rob Sisson states: "We think that real conservatives conserve. We accept the wisdom of conservative statesman Edmund Burke that we are obligated by custom, tradition and morality to be good stewards...”

"Take clean air. Many of our members remember the debilitating pollution that once afflicted America's cities. Republican President Nixon and then-Sen. Howard H. Baker Jr., Tennessee Republican, got the Clean Air Act passed and we're much healthier as a result. The first blow against smog was not Nixon's, however, but was landed by a California governor, who signed legislation to set tough tailpipe-emissions limits. In a speech years later, that governor said: "I'm proud of having been one of the first to recognize that states and the federal government have a duty to protect our natural resources from the damaging effects of pollution that can accompany industrial development." Those words were Ronald Reagan's...

"We strongly support climate stewardship. We think that it is prudent to take seriously the findings of climate scientists, not the fake controversies that Mr. [Steven] Milloy [a climate change denier] and others have manufactured to sow confusion about important issues such as global warming and ozone depletion."

Their website sums up their agenda:

We want clean air and water

Food free from harmful chemicals

Clean, efficient businesses & industries

A high quality of life in our cities & rural communities

Strong, results-oriented enforcement of environmental laws

Economic development for communities without the ravages of sprawl

High priority for funding of natural resource stewardship & environmental protection

Protection for posterity of our national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, wild lands & waters

Effective legal protection for threatened & endangered plants & animals in their native habitats

They conclude with the declaration: "We support and vote for Republican elected officials and candidates who share these values and concerns."

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Let's hope that these officials and candidates are receptive to this critically important message. Environmental responsibility isn't the ideological property of any one political party or trend, but something we should all agree on. However, it is essential, I believe, to make people aware of the sensible views and statements of REP and the denial of so many Republican candidates for office today.

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3. A Chance to Influence Delegates to the Winter UN Cancun Mexico Climate Conference to Put Dietary Connections to Climate Change on the Conference Agenda

Please take advantage of this important opportunity.

Forwarded message:

At the upcoming United Nations Conferences of the Parties (COP16) meeting in Cancún, Mexico, being held November 29 to December 10, 2010, delegates and world leaders from around the world will once again be meeting to discuss the current climate change issues our planet faces. 

Recently, a new report from the UN, Assessing the Environmental Impacts of Production and Consumption: Priority Products and Materials from the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP), found that consuming a diet free of meat and dairy will be the best approach to dealing with climate change and its consequences.

But despite all the science pointing to animal agriculture being the largest contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, inter-governmental talks do not even include on their agenda the discussion of the meat and livestock industries. The facts clearly demonstrate animal products are unsustainable and truly detrimental.
Please send a message to COP16 delegates on how their actions should reflect the findings of various official reports on how livestock and animal products are detrimental to the planet and how by switching to a vegan diet would be the first sustainable approach for a solution to climate change. To do so, just sign this easy form:

http://meatfreecop16.org/send-letter/
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4. Articles on Republican Candidates for Congress Denial on Climate Change

Please note: I use denial rather than skepticism. Skepticism can be positive, and we need more skeptics, certainly related to typical US diets and many other things that are part of the status quo that is having so many negative environmental and other societal effects. However, a skeptic should not only doubt, but also seek the truth, which in the case of climate change would mean seeking to know what peer-reviewed article in respected science journals and science academies worldwide are stating. It would also mean considering the implications of the many recent reports of heat waves. droughts, storms, floods, wildfires, etc. BTW, the temperature in Tel Aviv has been in the 90sthe past 4 or 5 days, reaching 97 degrees F a few days ago. And we are well past mid-October!

‘The Progress Report”

October 15, 2010

ENVIRONMENT

Climate Zombies

One of the defining characteristics of the current Republican Party is the near-unanimous denial of the science behind the threat of global warming pollution. "The GOP is stampeding toward an absolutist rejection of climate science that appears unmatched among major political parties around the globe, even conservative ones," writes the National Journal's Ron Brownstein. Many of the candidates -- whom Daily Kos blogger RL Miller has dubbed the "climate zombies" -- are signatories of the Koch Industries' Americans For Prosperity No Climate Tax pledge and the FreedomWorks' Contract From America. The second plank of the Contract From America is to "Reject Cap & Trade: Stop costly new regulations that would increase unemployment, raise consumer prices, and weaken the nation's global competitiveness with virtually no impact on global temperatures." The Koch oil billionaires have pumped $1,125,400 into the campaign accounts of congressional candidates and $332,722 to state-level candidates, 87 percent< /a> to Republicans, and have contributed $1 million to the Proposition 23 campaign to kill California's AB32 climate legislation. But Koch's main influence is through its Astroturf arm, Americans for Prosperity, which has spent $649,188 in attack ads while organizing a massive get-out-the-vote effort for its Tea Party members across the nation. The polluting power of Koch Industries and other fossil fuel giants over the GOP in the Tea Party age is overwhelming. "[S]kepticism about climate science has become one of the many litmus tests for candidates backed by the surging right," Nature magazine's Jeff Tollefson observes. The denialism is an excuse to oppose green economic policies that would bring jobs back to America and clean the air, and would also limit the influence of the fossil fuel industry's dirty money on our nation's politics.


… FOR SENATE: Remarkably, of the dozens of Republicans vying for the 37 Senate seats in the 2010 election, not one supports climate action, after climate advocate Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE) lost his primary to Christine O'Donnell. Even former climate advocates Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) now toe the science-doubting party line. California GOP candidate Carly Fiorina is "not sure" that global warming is real, and is supporting Koch's Prop 23 effort. Tea Party darlings are leading the charge: Florida's Marco Rubio questions the "scientific evidence," Kentucky's Rand Paul charges scientists are "making up their facts," and Nevada's Sharron Angle has attacked the "climate change mantra of the left." Some Democrats have made their opponents' denial of science an issue. When Koch-funded Pennsylvania candidate Pat Toomey said the science is "very much disputed," the Joe Sestak campaign called him a "closed-minded ideologue bent on insisting that the 'world is flat.'" After Wisconsin candidate Ron Johnson said that global warming is caused by "sunspot activity," Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) responded, "I'm not going to take a course in Ron Johnson science any time soon." However, in coal company-dominated West Virginia, both U.S. Senate candidates -- John Raese (R) and Gov. Joe Manchin (D) -- question the scientific reality that burning coal is destroying our climate.


… FOR THE HOUSE: If Republicans take back the House, Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) would take over committees and have pledged to launch investigations against climate scientists. Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), who apologized to BP and demonizes climate scientists, wants to become the chair of the House energy committee. And they may be joined by dozens of new radical global warming deniers who are campaigning to replace Democratic incumbents who were the swing votes in favor of the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act in 2009. "I just don't buy into it," says GOP House candidate Bob Gibbs (OH-18). It's "crap," says Steve Pearce (NM-2). Global warming is "a hoax perpetrated by leftist ideologues with an agenda," believes Todd Young (IN-9). "I don't believe we have a significant impact on climate change," argues Randy Hultgren (IL-14). The Wonk Room's Brad Johnson has identified fourteen top House races in which a strong supporter for action to reduce global warming pollution is being challenged by a denier of the threat of global warming, but there are dozens more climate zombies in every state of the nation (especially Texas).



… FOR GOVERNOR: In Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming, four Democratic governors who have supported clean energy may be replaced by Republicans who have expressed fealty to big oil in the November 2010 elections. Florida is under imminent threat from the rising sea levels, fiercer heat waves, and stronger storms resulting from global warming, but GOP candidate Rick Scott has "not been convinced." In Illinois, Tea Party candidate Bill Brady says the "premise" of global warming is "wrong." Minnesota's Tom Emmer thinks global warming science is just "Al Gore's climate porn." Ohio candidate John Kasich believes "global warming is cyclical." Even in the Northeast, where the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative cap-and-trade system has been successfully in place for years, Maine's Paul LePage thinks "scientists are divided on it," Maryland's Bob Ehrlich is newly "skeptical," and Massachusetts candidate Charlie Baker is "not smart enough to believe that I know the answer to that question." The Western Climate Initiative -- the regional compact scheduled to begin in 2012 -- is threatened by California's Meg Whitman, Oregon's Chris Dudley, and New Mexico candidate Susana Martinez, who thinks the science of climate change is an "ideological debate." Even more troubling is the growing opposition by Republicans to renewable electricity standards, which have long enjoyed bipartisan support. LePage, Ehrlich, Kasich, and Brady have all challenged their state's renewable standards, with Scott calling Florida's proposed standards "leftist energy proposals."

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CONNECTIONS

GOP Gives Climate Science A Cold Shoulder

http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/print_friendly.php?ID=nj_20101009_9888

,Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010
by Ronald Brownstein

When British Foreign Secretary William Hague visited the U.S. last week, he placed combating climate change near the very top of the world's To Do list.

"Climate change is perhaps the 21st century's biggest foreign-policy challenge," Hague declared in a New York City speech. "An effective response to climate change underpins our security and prosperity." The danger was no longer just distant thunder, he suggested, warning that the recent devastating floods in Pakistan heralded the sort of extreme events that will become more common in a warmer world. "While no one weather event can ever be linked with certainty to climate change," he said, "the broad patterns of abnormality seen this year are consistent with climate-change models."

William Hague is not a holdover from the left-leaning Labor Government that British voters ousted last spring. He's not even from the centrist Liberal Democrats who are governing in a coalition with the Conservative Party of Prime Minister David Cameron. Hague is one of Cameron's predecessors as Conservative Party leader.

His strong words make it easier to recognize that Republicans in this country are coalescing around a uniquely dismissive position on climate change. The GOP is stampeding toward an absolutist rejection of climate science that appears unmatched among major political parties around the globe, even conservative ones.

This change has proceeded in two stages. First came a hardening of Republican opposition to cap-and-trade legislation intended to limit the emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases linked to climate change. Most congressional Republicans had always opposed such legislation, but that position wasn't monolithic: In 2005, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and five other Republicans voted for a cap-and-trade bill that he co-sponsored. Several GOP governors also acted on climate-change issues.

This year, when Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., spent months negotiating bipartisan cap-and-trade legislation, he could not attract any Republican co-sponsors -- not even McCain. And when National Journal recently surveyed the 21 GOP Senate challengers with a serious chance of winning this fall, each opposed cap-and-trade (including Rep. Mark Kirk of Illinois, who voted for it in 2009).

It is difficult to identify another major political party in any democracy as thoroughly dismissive of climate science as is the GOP here.

Even many climate-change activists prefer alternatives to cap-and-trade, such as a carbon tax. But virtually all of the serious 2010 GOP challengers have moved beyond opposing cap-and-trade to dismissing the scientific evidence that global warming is even occurring.

Senate nominees with tea party roots, such as Nevada's Sharron Angle, have expressed these views most emphatically. But the pattern of repudiation extends to more-measured nominees such as Ohio's Rob Portman and California's Carly Fiorina who pointedly insisted, "I'm not sure," when asked whether climate change was happening. Of the 20 serious GOP Senate challengers who have taken a position, 19 have declared that the science of climate change is inconclusive or flat-out incorrect. (Kirk is the only exception.) With sentiments among rank-and-file Republicans also trending that way, it's no coincidence that two Republicans who affirmed the science -- Rep. Michael Castle in Delaware and Sen. Lisa Murkowski in Alaska -- were defeated in Senate primaries this year.

Just for the record, when the nonpartisan National Academy of Sciences last reviewed the data this spring, it concluded: "A strong, credible body of scientific evidence shows that climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for a broad range of human and natural systems." Not only William Hague but such other prominent European conservatives as French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have embraced that widespread scientific conviction and supported vigorous action.

Indeed, it is difficult to identify another major political party in any democracy as thoroughly dismissive of climate science as is the GOP here. Eileen Claussen, president of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, says that although other parties may contain pockets of climate skepticism, there is "no party-wide view like this anywhere in the world that I am aware of."

It will be difficult for the world to move meaningfully against climate disruption if the United States does not. And it will be almost impossible for the U.S. to act if one party not only rejects the most common solution proposed for the problem (cap-and-trade) but repudiates even the idea that there is a problem to be solved. The GOP's stiffening rejection of climate science sets the stage for much heated argument but little action as the world inexorably warms -- and the dangers that Hague identified creep closer.

Copyright ©2010 by National Journal Group Inc. The Watergate 600 New Hampshire Ave., NW Washington, DC 20037
202-739-8400 • fax 202-833-8069 NationalJournal.com is an Atlantic Media publication.

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GOP Senate Candidates Oppose Climate Science And Policy

by Brad Johnson, ThinkProgress Wonk Room Climate Editor

Updated September 29. View the original version here.

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2010/09/13/gop-senate-deniers/

Updated October 7 with Christine O’Donnell comments.

A comprehensive Wonk Room survey of the Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate finds that nearly all dispute the scientific consensus that the United States must act to fight global warming pollution. In May, 2010, the National Academies of Science reported to Congress that “the U.S. should act now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop a national strategy to adapt to the inevitable impacts of climate change” because global warming is “caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for — and in many cases is already affecting — a broad range of human and natural systems.”

This finding is shared by scientific bodies around the world. However, in the alternate reality of the fossil-fueled right wing, climate science is confused or a conspiracy, and policies to limit pollution would destroy the economy.

Remarkably, of the dozens of Republicans vying for the 37 Senate seats in the 2010 election, no one supports climate action, after climate advocate Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE) lost his primary to Christine O’Donnell. Even former climate advocates Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) now toe the science-doubting party line.

Many of the Senate candidates are signatories of the Koch Industries’ Americans For Prosperity No Climate Tax pledge and the FreedomWorks Contract From America. The second plank of the Contract From America is to “Reject Cap & Trade: Stop costly new regulations that would increase unemployment, raise consumer prices, and weaken the nation’s global competitiveness with virtually no impact on global temperatures.”

In reality, a carbon cap-and-trade market — by rewarding work instead of pollution — would increase jobs, lower electricity bills, restore American competitiveness, and forestall a climate catastrophe.

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5. NY Times Editorial – GOP in Climate Denial, Again/My Letter to the Editor

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/18/opinion/18mon1.html?ref=opinion

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My letter to the editor of the Times:

Sir,

The fact that the approaching climate catastrophe is not a campaign issue even though the GOP is almost completely “In Climate Denial Again” (October 18 editorial) indicates how successful energy companies and other have been in misleading the public on the nature of the threats. It is scandalous that many Republican climate deniers are projected to win in the midterm elections, making it even more difficult to properly address the climate crisis.

Democratic candidates should challenge their opponents by pointing out that there is an overwhelming scientific consensus that human greenhouse gas emissions are the smoking gun behind today's global warming crisis; that the effect - climate change - poses a massive environmental, economic and security threat to all of humanity, America included; and that we can mitigate these looming dangers, affordably, if we rise to the challenge now.

Very truly yours,

Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D.

Thanks to JVNA advisor Sud Baumel for his valuable suggestions for this letter.

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6. Another Way to Promote Jewish Vegetarianism

There are many “Ask the Rabbi” places on the internet where we can bring up our vegetarian arguments. Please do some Internet searching and take advantage of these opportunities.

My message to one such site is below.

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Since animal-based diets are having devastating effects on the health of Jews and others and since animal-based agriculture is contributing significantly to climate change, deforestation, soil erosion, rapid species extinction, water shortages and other environmental threats to humanity and all life on our planet, and since the production and consumption of animal products arguably violate Jewish mandates to preserve human health, treat animals with compassion, protect the environment, conserve natural resources and help hungry people, shouldn't a consideration of vegetarianism be on the Jewish agenda?

I would be happy to send you additional material on these issues or you might be interested in my articles and book "Judaism and Vegetarianism," which can be read at JewishVeg.com/schwartz.

Thanks for your kind consideration, and kol tuv.

Richard (Schwartz)

President, Jewish Vegetarians of North America

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7. JVNA Vice President Noam Mohr Compiles Statistics on the Number of Animals slaughtered to Feed Americans Annually

Forwarded information and data from Noam:

For more information on the number of animals saved by going vegetarian, visit http://AnimalDeathCount.blogspot.com.

In 2009, the average American meat eater was responsible for about 198 deaths:

1/7 of a cow

2/5 of a pig

1 turkey

1½ chickens for eggs

25 chickens for meat

40 fish

130 shellfish.

In all, 8.25 billion land animals and 51 billion sea animals died to feed Americans. Over a lifetime, this amounts to 15,000 animals per meat eater.

Compared to the previous year, the average American killed 1.3 fewer land animals and 2 fewer fish, but ate 5 more shellfish.

Looking over the past four years, the drop is more dramatic: 3 fewerm land animals, 10 fewer fish, and 12 fewer shellfish than in 2006. That's a drop of 10%, 19%, and 8% respectively, and translates to 600 million fewer land animals, 2.4 billion fewer fish, and 5 billion fewer shellfish.

While the study did not look into reasons for the decrease, another study released last month by Kansas State University found that demand for meat was significantly affected by media attention to farm animal welfare issues.

Links to detailed statistics:

Total Number Died to Feed Americans (millions of animals)

Average Number Died Per American Meat Eater

Note Regarding Previous Estimates

Calculations for sea animals include a great deal of uncertainty. Unlike for land animals, marine catch is reported only by weight. The number of deaths must be calculated based on the average weight of individuals of each aquatic species, for which estimates vary considerably. The numbers calculated here for 2006 - 2009 use estimates that have been updated, and thus differ considerably from earlier estimates.

Finfish: There were two major changes. One was the inclusion of weight estimates listed in “Worse things happen at sea: the welfare of wild caught fish” by fishcount.org.uk, which attempts to calculate the number of fish killed worldwide. These and other updated weights resulted in an increase in the estimated number of fish killed of 33 to 40% compared with previous estimates. The other change was the inclusion of fishmeal imports and exports, as well as fishmeal and fish oil fed to those fish that were imported, resulting in an increase in the estimated number of fish killed of an additional 35 to 45%.

Shellfish: The biggest change was improved values for scallop weights, distinguishing sea scallops from smaller bay scallops.

Because of scallops are eaten in large numbers, this resulted in shellfish death estimates 43% lower than before.


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8. Is the World Getting Hotter?

Forwarded message:

January through September of this year is tied for the warmest first nine months on record, according to the National Climate Data Center. This year's temperatures are tied with those in 1998, though this was the warmest nine months ever recorded in the Northern Hemisphere.

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9. Environmental Costs of Livestock Production

Forecasting potential global environmental costs of livestock production 2000–2050

Nathan Pelletier¹ and Peter Tyedmers

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/09/27/1004659107.abstract?sid=1d9d6f02-1c0a-41ec-9fba-91dabc2ff719

Author Affiliations

School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, Suite 5010, 6100 University Avenue, Halifax, NS, Canada B3H 3J5

Edited by Peter M. Vitousek, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, and approved August 17, 2010 (received for review April 6, 2010)

Abstract

Food systems—in particular, livestock production—are key drivers of environmental change. Here, we compare the contributions of the global livestock sector in 2000 with estimated contributions of this sector in 2050 to three important environmental concerns: climate change, reactive nitrogen mobilization, and appropriation of plant biomass at planetary scales. Because environmental sustainability ultimately requires that human activities as a whole respect critical thresholds in each of these domains, we quantify the extent to which current and future livestock production contributes to published estimates of sustainability thresholds at projected production levels and under several alternative endpoint scenarios intended to illustrate the potential range of impacts associated with dietary choice. We suggest that, by 2050, the livestock sector alone may either occupy the majority of, or significantly overshoot, recently published estimates of humanity’s “safe operating space” in each of these domains. In light of the magnitude of estimated impacts relative to these proposed (albeit uncertain) sustainability boundary conditions, we suggest that reining in growth of this sector should be prioritized in environmental governance.

Footnotes

1 To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: nathanpelletier@dal.ca.

Author contributions: N.L.P. and P.H.T. designed research; N.L.P. performed research; N.L.P. analyzed data; and N.L.P. and P.H.T. wrote the paper.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.

This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1004659107/-/DCSupplemental.

*We have calculated this amount using information provided in ref. 5.

Related articles

Commentary:

Henning Steinfeld and Pierre Gerber

Livestock production and the global environment: Consume less or produce better? 
PNAS published ahead of print October 8, 2010, doi:10.1073/pnas.1012541107

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** Fair Use Notice **

The material on this site is provided for educational and informational purposes. It may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. It is being made available in an effort to advance the understanding of vegetarian, environmental, nutritional, health, economic, social justice and human rights issues etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have an interest in using the included information for educational or research purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. The information on this site does not constitute legal, technical or medical advice.

10/12//2010 JVNA Online Newsletter

Shalom everyone,

This update/Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter has the following items:

1. Talk I Gave at the Israeli Jewish Vegetarian Center/Outline of 5 Key Points

2. “Republicans for Environmental Protection” Support Steps to Reduce Climate Change and Other Environmental Threats

3. Some Major Effects of Israel’s Recent Very Severe Heat Waves

4. My Efforts to Get Climate Change Threats Onto the Agendas of U.S. 2010 Midterm Election Campaigns

5. Veg Climate Alliance Seeks to get Dietary Connections to Climate Change on Society’s Agenda

6. New Song and Music Video Promotes Vegetarianism

7. Roberta Kalechofsky Being Honored for Her Vegetarian Writings

8. JVNA Documentary “A Sacred Duty” Honored

9. My Article on Dietary Connections to Climate Change Is Cover Article in the North American Vegetarian Society’s Publication “Vegetarian Voice”

10. Dispute Over Kashrut of Hot Dogs in Israel/My Letter to the Jerusalem Post

11. 350.org Group Promotes Responses to Climate Change Through Many Events

Some material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.

[Materials in brackets like this [ ] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]

Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, material re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsement by JVNA or endorsement of the kashrut, Shabbat observances, or any other Jewish observances, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in. Also, JVNA does not necessarily agree with all positions of groups whose views are included or whose events are announced in this newsletter.

As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.

Thanks,

Richard

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1. Talk I Gave at the Israeli Jewish Vegetarian Center/Outline of 5 Key Points

My 5 key points were:

a. The world is rapidly approaching an unprecedented climate catastrophe;

b. A major societal shift to vegan diets is an essential part of what is needed to avoid the catastrophe;

c. The production and consumption of meat and other animal products violate 6 basic Jewish mandates;

d. Animal-based diets and agriculture constitute “madness and sheer insanity,” in that they contribute so significantly to climate change, diseases, hunger, water shortages, deforestation, rapid species extinction and many other societal threats;

e. Hence it is essential that people become aware of these issues and do everything possible to make others aware as well.

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Announcement for the talk is below:

Sunday September 26th 8:00 pm

@ Ginger – The Vegetarian Community Center, 8 Balfour St. Jerusalem

Why Israel’s Future Well-Being Depends on a Major Shift to Vegetarianism by Prof. Richard Schwartz

The lecture will be followed by a discussion about getting the vegetarian message on the Israeli agenda.

Richard H. Schwartz, PhD is Professor Emeritus, College of Staten Island, president of Jewish Vegetarians of North America and author of “Judaism and Vegetarianism,” “Judaism and Global Survival,” and “Mathematics and Global Survival,” and over 130 articles at www.JewishVeg.com/schwartz

Admission: free.

In English.

For details: Yossi 052-2598773

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2. “Republicans for Environmental Protection” Support Steps to Reduce Climate Change and Other Environmental Threats

http://www.bing.com/search?q=Republicans+for+Environmental+Protection&form=APMCS1

Having this group shows that climate change need not be a partisan political issue. They are strong advocates for renewable energy and other steps to reduce global warming. Please visit their web site, commend them for their positive statements, and urge them to promote discussions of climate change in the present midterm elections for congress in the U.S. Thanks.

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3. Some Major Effects of Israel’s Recent Very Severe Heat Waves

a. Heat Wave Badly Damages Israel’s Fruit and Vegetable Crops/Sharply Raises Prices

http://www.greenprophet.com/2010/09/israels-high-market-prices/

b. Tomato Prices Soar in Israel as Quality Suffers

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/business/tomato-prices-soar-as-quality-falters-1.317602

I was in Israel for Sukkot, and the temperatures were extremely warm for October, in the 90’s on some days. One rabbi even stated that it was permissible not to eat in the Sukkah if the high temperatures made them very uncomfortable being outside in the sukkah. This is one more wake-up call and hopefully people will start paying attention.

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4. My Efforts to Get Climate Change Threats Onto the Agendas of U.S. 2010 Midterm Election Campaigns

I have been contacting many groups urging them to try to get climate change and other environmental threats onto the current electoral agenda in the U.S. One relevant article is below. We welcome material with other points of view. Please check how candidates in your area stand on the issues and urge that they consider climate change and other environmental threats in their campaigns. Thanks.

Cynthia Tucker: The GOP is now a party of know-nothing flat-earthers

http://climateprogress.org/2010/09/16/cynthia-tucker-global-warming-the-gop-is-now-a-party-of-know-nothing-flat-earthers/

September 16, 2010

One of the greatest crises of our time is climate change, which threatens to create food shortages (as the Russians learned this summer), change geography, eradicate entire eco-systems and even wipe out cities and towns in coastal areas. (NOTE: If you are an anti-science know-nothing, don’t bother to comment. The clear scientific consensus indicates a warming climate caused by human activity.)

That’s Pulitzer Prize winner Cynthia Tucker of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a blog piece titled, “The GOP is now a party of know-nothing flat-earthers.”

Snip

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5. Veg Climate Alliance Seeks to get Dietary Connections to Climate Change on Society’s Agenda

Statement to veg, animal rights and other activists that I helped draft:

Dear fellow activists,

The Veg Climate Alliance invites you to join our global action this December to ensure that animal farming is not left out of international climate negotiations. We are the ones with the responsibility and opportunity to help the world avoid an unprecedented climate catastrophe and help shift it to a brighter future. It is essential that we make people aware of just how dangerous the situation is and that a major switch toward vegetarian and vegan diets is essential to a sustainable path.

I am director of Veg Climate Alliance (VCA) and our group is working very closely with the America-based groups In Defense of Animals (IDA), Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM) and A Well-Fed World (AWFW) and the Mexico-based AnimaNaturalis (AN) to get dietary connections to climate change on the Cancun agenda and the world’s agenda. We would very much like to work with you in accomplishing our objectives.

We must spread the word as widely as possible through articles, letters to editors, calls to radio talk shows, contacts with media people, religious leaders, educators, as well as friends, neighbors and family members, in addition to targeting delegates, key decision makers and NGOs at the upcoming Cancun climate change conference from November 29 to December 10, 2010. It will be made absolutely clear that there is no way the world will avoid an unparalleled climate catastrophe if there is not a major societal shift to plant-based diets. The future of humanity and all of creation is threatened as perhaps never before- swift actions are urgent.

We plan to stage performances in Mexico to dramatize the issues, join in panel discussions, and take part in other activities in Cancun. We will also place ads in key publications and distribute literature to educate people on the issues. Here are some ways you can help:

* Help make Sunday, December 5 an international day of education on diet and climate change by arranging a local event. We will provide a special “Cancun declaration,” literature to distribute, and helpful tips for outreach and media.

* Let us know if you would like to be listed as a partner organization. This will make our media contacts far more effective in showing widespread support for our messages and initiatives. For more information and to become a partner, please visit http://vegclimatealliance.org/partners/partners/.

* Urge your members to actively spread the message about the connections between animal-based diets and climate change through letters to editors, call-ins to talk shows, and personal contacts with neighbors, friends and family.

Make a tax-deductible contribution to help us spread the message in Cancun. Consider that if we do not properly respond to the climate conference, all other issues will be relatively minor. Thus, the most important contribution you can make for children, grandchildren and all future generations is to support these efforts that aim to shift our imperiled planet to a sustainable path. Donations can be made by visiting https://secure2.convio.net/ida/site/Donation2?df_id=2380&2380.donation=form1&JServSessionIdr004=2keay7b0l1.app245b.

Contact information for two people who will be actively involved in Mexico before and during the Cancun conference are:

Israel Arriola Toiber, Mexico: Email: israelt@animanaturalis.org, Phone: 0052- 595 954 1409 (Spanish and some English)

Gerardo Tristan, USA: Email: animaleslibertarios@hotmail.com, Phone: 001- 404 243 1434 (English and Spanish)

Please contact them if you and/or members of your group would like to help with our campaign in Cancun and other Mexican cities. They can help with possible free housing, inexpensive food, help getting around and other ways.

Looking forward to working with you on these very important issues. Please let us know if you would like any further information.

Richard H. Schwartz

director@VegClimateAlliance.org

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More information about our groups and the issues can be found at our web sites:

Veg Climate Alliance: www.VegClimateAlliance.org

In Defense of Animals: www.idausa.org

Farm Animal Rights Movement. www.farmusa.org

AnimaNaturalis: www.animanaturalis.org

A Well-Fed World; www.AWellFedWorld.org

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6. New Song and Music Video Promotes Vegetarianism

Announcing the completion of a new song and music video by OhWhyOhWhy.Org promoting the vegetarian/vegan cause, starring Los Angeles-based music artists Greg Cipes and Jah Sun.

The video is on http://www.ohwhyohwhy.org and on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8LnxSjWWD8. The OhWhyOhWhy.Org non-profit organization behind the video is dedicated to promoting vegetarianism through multimedia. The song, 'Animals (oh why?)' features a chorus 'Why Must We Eat The Animals?' and has already been picked up by a number of vegetarian blogs and social media sites.

The music video represents a compassionate, kid-friendly approach to asking the question about our animal consumption. It invokes the beauty of the Earth, the splendor of the animal kingdom, and references historical leaders who espoused vegetarianism, in a reggae-feel catchy song, and a chorus which, according to many bloggers, 'sticks in your head for days!'

Thank you and for more information please contact info@ohwhyohwhy.org

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7. Roberta Kalechofsky Being Honored for Her Vegetarian Writings

Roberta Kalechofsky is to receive an animal rights award (The Empty Cages Award) in Italy and is scheduled for three days of talks. Below is her schedule. [This newsletter is being sent out after the scheduled events. I am sorry about that, but I was away in Israel for Sukkpt and then had much catching up to do after my return.]

October 8th - dinner time - Milan, in a vegan Restaurant around 19,00 pm you will be invited to a dinner. Short talk about Vegetarian cuisine in the Jewish tradition. Duration: 10 minutes.

October 9th - lunch time - Alessandria (a city 80 km far from Milan in the Monferrato area) in a Restaurant you will be invited for lunch along with authorities of the Monferrato area. Short speech as the evening before about Vegetarian cuisine in the Jewish tradition. Duration: 10 minutes.

October 9th - Alessandria at 16,30 lecture about Animal rights in Judaism and Christianity. A conversation between Roberta Kalechofsky and the Italian theologian Luigi Lorenzetti. Duration: Kalechofsky 30 minutes; Lorenzetti: 30 minutes; questions from the public: 20 minutes

October 9th - Corsico (10 km far from Milan) At 21,30 pm in Corsico theatre you will be awarded of the Empty Cages prize.

October 10th - Corsico, during a Festival against vivisection, at 16,30 pm Lectio Magistralis by Kalechofsky about Vivisection and Medical Technocracy. Duration: 40 minutes.

Roberta Kalechofsky is an independent scholar and publisher, the author of seven works of fiction, a monograph on George Orwell, poetry, two collections of essays, and several non-fiction books, including three vegetarian cookbooks. She has been published in many quarterlies, reviews and anthologies, and was the recipient of Literary Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Council on the Arts.

Several of her novels and short stories have been translated into Italian and published in Italy, receiving excellent reviews in major publications, such as Corriere Della Sera. Her fiction has also been included in a college curriculum in courses in American Fiction at the University of Florence.

She began Micah Publications in 1978 and has received publishing grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Council on the Arts, in addition to her literary fellowships.

She is an outspoken member of the vegetarian and animal rights movements and has written and spoken widely on these subjects. Some of her titles include Vegetarian Judaism, Judaism and Animal Rights, The Jewish Vegetarian Year Cookbook, The Vegetarian Shabbat Cookbook, Haggadah for the Liberated Lamb, and her book on vivisection, The Poet-Physician and the Healer-Killer---Vivisection and the Emergence of a Medical Technocracy. For more titles and information, see her website, www.micahbooks.com

Roberta Kalechofsky, Ph.D., fiction writer, speaker, essayist, publisher.

Micah Publications (www.micahbooks.com) is the source for Jewish vegetarian and animal rights books. See website for these and other titles.

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8. JVNA Documentary “A Sacred Duty” Honored

Forwarded message sent to Lionel Friedberg, the multi-award-winning producer of the documentary:

Dear Lionel,

Thank you once again for participating in our online film festival with your wonderful film “A Sacred Duty.“ We applaud your efforts for this meaningful film and wish to extend our gratitude for sharing it with the audiences, other film-makers/artists and evolutionaries who are participating in the festival.

We are writing to inform you that in respect to your film's message, our team has chosen it to showcase in our filMedia Network http://filmedia.cultureunplugged.com/ for the week of 20 September 2010 . Your film will be featured in the "Feature Of The Day" section along with several other films during this time.

filMedia Network is a platform that caters to upcoming as well as established film-makers, looking to reach out to wider audience for social mission and/or find new markets & connect with global producers. With this platform, we wish to facilitate cross-pollination of ideas, spirit and knowledge among storytellers, content producers, professionals from social/scientific arena and global audiences.

The "Feature Of The Day" films appear on the landing page of our filMedia Network http://filmedia.cultureunplugged.com/, So during the week mentioned above, the audience visiting filMedia.cultureunplugged.com
will also see an exclusive showcase for your film. This "Feature of The Day" section showcases a few selected films each week, and randomizes through this selected set every few minutes. This provides a unique opportunity to spread awareness globally, and allows selected stories/messages to be discovered by the audience.

We wonder if you can also help us promote your film on these days. You can share with your family and friends or promote through whichever channels you deem appropriate.

We thank you once again for your participation. Please share your thoughts and suggestions with us anytime, and do not hesitate to contact me for any queries you may have.

Regards,

Yogesh

Culture Unplugged Studios

www.cultureunplugged.com

India | USA I UK | New Zealand

Promote films. Promote consciousness

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9. My Article on Dietary Connections to Climate Change Is Cover Article in the North American Vegetarian Society’s Publication “Vegetarian Voice'

CLIMATE CHANGE: Global catastrophe or sustainable future? It will largely depend on our food choices!

By Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D

Vegetarian Voice, cover story, Late Summer, Early Fall issue

It may seem naïve to argue that a mere change of diet could be a potent prescription for many of today's worst crises, but sometimes complex problems do yield to simple solutions.
As most vegetarians already know, if the human species were to stop consuming some 60 billion farmed animals every year and switch to a plant-based diet, it would have a tremendously positive impact on human health, environmental sustainability, world hunger and, of course, animal welfare. What is much less well-known are the facts and figures about how such a dietary shift would fight climate change.

The Case for Human-Caused Climate Change


Despite decades of scientific evidence, there is still much public skepticism about climate change itself, never mind the potential impacts of dietary shifts. So let us consider the evidence and how our efforts can make a difference.

SNIP

The complete article can be read at http://jewishveg.com/schwartz/CLIMATECHANGEGlobalcatastrophe.html

Please let others know about this article. Thanks.

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10. Dispute Over Kashrut of Hot Dogs in Israel/My Letter to the Jerusalem Post

Hot Dogs in Israel Not Kosher?

http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=190624

My letter in response to the Jerusalem Post article:

October 8, 2010

Editor, Jerusalem Post

Letters@JPost.com
Dear Editor:

As president of Jewish Vegetarians of North America, I read with much interest Jonah Mandel’s October 8, 2010 article “Rabbis’ debate threatens hike in kosher hotdog prices,” which discussed whether or not “major hotdog producers in Israel are using non-kosher ingredients, including pig skin, for their products’ casings.”

One way to avoid possibly eating non-kosher products is to adopt a plant-based diet. Such a diet is most consistent with Jewish mandates to preserve human health, treat animals with compassion, protect the environment, conserve natural resources and help hungry people. It would also reduce the epidemic of diseases currently afflicting the Jewish people and decrease many environmental threats, including climate change which has caused Israel’s worst drought and many heat waves.

As Rabbi Shlomo Riskin has taught, “the dietary laws are designed to teach us compassion and lead us gently to vegetarianism.” Putting this teaching into practice would show the relevance of Judaism’s eternal teaching and help shift Israel and, indeed, the entire world to a sustainable path.

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11. 350.org Group Promotes Responses to Climate Change Through Many Events

Forwarded message from Bill McKibbon and 350.org:

Dear Friends,


How do you say 'thank you' 7,347 times?

People got to work yesterday in at least that many places around the world -- the planet has never seen anything quite that widespread. Or quite that beautiful.

I hope you'll take a few minutes to visit 350.org to look through some of the thousands of pictures that we have managed to sort through so far:

View the Slideshow at 350.org

And if you haven't sent in your photos yet, now's the time: here's how to submit your photos to 350.org.

We're looking forward to reading your reports over the next few weeks, and we'll be in touch with next steps and ideas. And in a few days, we’ll send along a video of a few of the day's highlights that you can share with friends. But today is a day for you to mostly just feel good.

We know we can't build the movement we need on just one day--but 10/10/10 made the foundation for our fight much larger and much stronger. And your message is getting out to media and politicians alike--we've already seen your work party photos in newspapers and on television shows all over the planet.

We hope 10/10/10 left you feeling connected with people all across this beautiful globe. You are helping shape the future of this planet, and we are deeply grateful for everything you do. "Thank you" doesn't seem nearly strong enough.

Onwards, always,

Bill McKibben for The 350.org Team

P.S. 10/10/10 isn’t the end of our work this year, and it’s vital that we keep the pressure on world leaders in the coming days and weeks. We could use more phone calls to let politicians know we expect them to lead the fight on the climate crisis. Please take a few mintues today to make a quick call by using our easy call-in gadget--our leaders won't hear our message if we don't send it to them.


Join 350.org on Facebook by becoming a fan of our page at facebook.com/350org and follow us on twitter by visiting twitter.com/350.

To join our list (maybe a friend forwarded you this e-mail) visit www.350.org/signup.

350.org needs your help! To support our work, donate securely online at 350.org/donate.

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** Fair Use Notice **

The material on this site is provided for educational and informational purposes. It may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. It is being made available in an effort to advance the understanding of vegetarian, environmental, nutritional, health, economic, social justice and human rights issues etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have an interest in using the included information for educational or research purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. The information on this site does not constitute legal, technical or medical advice.