Group Explains to Mayor That There's No Such Thing as a Meat-Eating Environmentalist
For Immediate Release:
April 19, 2011
Contact:
Kristin Richards 202-483-7382
Greensboro, N.C. - PETA has sent a letter to Greensboro Mayor William Knight asking him to temporarily change the city's name to "Meat's Not Greensboro" in honor of Earth Day (April 22). PETA's request bolsters the city's "Greensboro Goes Green" campaign, which aims to increase energy efficiency, fight climate change, and improve air and water quality. PETA points out that in addition to causing life-threatening health problems and animal suffering on a massive scale, raising animals for food is a leading cause of greenhouse-gas emissions, water pollution, and land degradation, and it consumes vast quantities of energy and resources.
"'Meat's Not Greensboro' is a catchy name that would encourage city residents to think about the ill effects of meat on the environment, animals, and their own health," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "After all, if you really want to go 'green,' you should go vegan."
With the letter, PETA included artwork showing a highway sign that reads, "Meat's Not Greensboro."
For more information, please visit PETA.org or click here.
PETA's letter to Mayor Knight follows.
The Honorable William H. Knight
Mayor of Greensboro
2 pages via fax
Dear Mr. Knight:
I am writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and our more than 2 million members and supporters, including many in Greensboro, in the hope that we can work together this Earth Day to raise awareness about climate change and the importance of caring for our planet—an issue that I know Greensboro is passionate about. We propose that on Earth Day (April 22), Greensboro temporarily change the city's name to "Meat's Not Greensboro" in order to remind residents of the easiest and most effective thing that they can do to help the planet.
Please consider the following:
- Animal products are inherently inefficient to produce. It takes enormous amounts of grain and water to produce a single serving of meat.
- The U.N. recently stated that a global shift toward a vegan diet is necessary to combat the worst effects of climate change.
- A recent U.N. report declares that the meat industry is "one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global. The findings of this report suggest that it should be a major policy focus when dealing with problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution and loss of biodiversity. Livestock's contribution to environmental problems is on a massive scale …."
- Researchers at the University of Chicago determined that switching to a vegan diet (no meat, eggs, or dairy products) is 50 percent more effective in countering climate change than switching from a standard American car to a hybrid.
In addition, every vegetarian saves more than 100 animals a year from the routine abuses of the meat industry—such as confining mother pigs to cramped cages and drugging chickens to grow so large that their legs often become crippled under the weight of their massive upper bodies.
We've attached a picture of what the new highway sign might look like. Changing your name for the day would truly be a win-win situation: It will inform environmentally conscious residents that going vegan is the single most effective way to "go green" and combat animal suffering, while potentially drawing national media attention to the city's efforts to go green. After all, who better to lead the way to a greener nation than Greensboro? Please contact me to discuss this exciting opportunity. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Tracy Reiman
Executive Vice President