PETA Updates

Well, other than a few articles, I haven't given you guys too much PETA updates, have I?
So, here's the recent PETA news.

First off, Donna Karan says that she has no plans to use fur in the future. Ain't it great?

Australia has passed the new Prevention of Cruelty to Animals regulations, which restricts glue traps for mice to commerical pest-controllers who have a permit, bans the use of twisted bits on horses, the transportation of dogs and livestock and restricts the use of some electric-shock devices on animals. :D

Paris Hilton, that's right - THE Paris Hilton - has proclaimed her fur-free stance. For Christmas, her mom bought her a faux fur coat.

A class in Connecticut raised over $800 for PETA's Angel for Animals organization, which helps backyard dogs live better.

On Christmas two ladies in sexy Santa suits greeted holiday shoppers with free soy nog, kisses under the mistletoe, and copies of PETA's "Vegetarian Starter Kit." They've also been seen protesting KFC, and with Ho Ho Faux signs.

PETA Europe has saved thousands of rabbits! Now, instead of using rabbits for skin tests, the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods' Scientific Advisory Committee (FSAC) will use new skin irritation tests that do not use animals! They will use the MatTek Corporation's Modified EpiDerm Skin Irritation Test as well as L'Oreal's SkinEthic test. This will allow manufacturers worldwide to use animal friendldy methods of testing. Also, animal testing for skin irritation and most other purposes will be banned in Europe as of March 2009. You can read more about this whole situation here. The U.S. still does not accept these tests, so PETA is writing the new Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tom Daschle (read letter here), to tell him to get the U.S. to stop stalling!

In the movie industry, there have been a lot of movies with animals. So PETA has rated them bad, not that bad, and good. The good movies are:
Marley and Me - The Grogans love, care and stick with Marley through all the horrible things. It reminds families that buying/adopting an animal is a LIFETIME commitment. Also, Marley is from a rescue group and not from a breeder. [I loved the movie, but the book was much better. I bawled at the end. Competely recommend it, its great for all of the family]
Bolt - This animated movie has no animals harmed, and gives the message that no dog or other animal would choose to become entertainers. Dogs would much rather play in the yard than perform tricks on a TV or film set.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - This film features exotic animals that are computer-generated.

The not-so-bad movies are:
The Dark Knight - It was good because Batman wore pleather. Bad because the movie portrays dogs as agressive and Batman beats them up, however the dogs were (thankfully) animatronic.
Beverly Hills Chihuahua - Well, after this movie that is based specifically on Chihuahuas, movie-gowers can be impressionable and impulsive and buy a chihuahua without knowledge or commitment. However, Disney has a disclaimer on the Website and at the end of the film that says that animals are a lifelong responsibility and that it's best to adopt from shelters.
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - Good because the animals are shown how happy they are once they get back to their natural habitats. However, they are trying to get back to the zoo - implying that this home would be better, when it's not.

The bad movies are:
Speed Racer - Real chimps were used to play the part of Chim Chim and the animal trainer, Greg Lille, " in an uncontrolled impulse, hit [a] chimpanzee." This only proves that the entertainment industry is incredibly abusive to not only exotic animals, but to all. To train great apes to perform, trainers forcibly remove them from their mothers when the animals are just infants, train them by beating, kicking, and punching them, and callously discard them to roadside zoos when they are too old and strong to handle (which occurs at age 8, and great apes live to be over 60 years old).
You Don't Mess With the Zohan - In this movie, there are numerous scenes which involve real animals. For example, a cat is used as a hacky sack and a cow is used as a punching bag.
Semi-Pro - First off, a bear was included in the cast of the baskebtall film. Not only did Semi-Pro feature a live bear (a bear named Rocky who attacked and killed his trainer only months later), it also encouraged stupid people to do stupid stunts with live animals.

In other news, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruled that no further animal testing is needed to declare that a natural plant-based sweetener derived from stevia is safe. Before, December 18th, the Centre for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) was encouraging more animal testing on the extract, even though it's been recognized worldwide as safe and has been used for more than 400 years. CSPI tried to say that they needed to test on rats and mice because the rats they used before weren't good models for the substance's toxicity in humans. Anyways, the FDA approved the substance without any further animal testing. Unfortunately, teh CSPI is still pushing! You can help by sending a polite letter to CSPI executive director Michael Jacobson asking him to focus CSPI's work on safe and effective non-animal testing methods.

For more ways you can help, click here.
The world is in danger, we need to be its superheroes.
Love,
TreeHugger

Petitions & Letters

Just click for the cause you wish to help. :)
Safe and effective non-animal testing methods for the CSPI
Ask Iams to stop cruel experiments on animals
Tell Congress to End Military Training on Animals! (Must be American)
Urge Britney Spears not to use animals for her new CD, Circus!
Stop the Russian killing of hibernating endangered brown bears!
Ban ivory sales and save African elephants!
Tell Canada to support the Animal Welfare Declaration!
Stop inhumane killings!
Tell the US to stop inhumane animal experiments!
Tell Harper (Canadian Prime Minister) to ban bear baiting!

The world is in danger, we need to be its superheroes.
Love,
TreeHugger

HUGE OIL SPILL!

Notified by Grist.org, based on two articles:
First; Second

On Monday December 8th, 2008 more than 27 barrels of oil, 1,134 gallons, leaked from the drilling plaform A in the Santa Barbara Channel. According to Singleton, the spokeswoman for the state Department of Fish and Game's Office of Spill Prevention and Reponse, no oiled seabirds have been sighted. She stated, "Sometimes oiled birds are not spotted until they wash ashore, dead or dying because the oil has ruined their ability to keep warm." The leak was the result of a finger-sized hole that was reported at 8 am on Sunday. Company officials were un willing to comment.

Pedro Nava, a state assemblyman D-Santa Barbara, said "This spill is another reminder that the calls for increased drilling in our coastal waters are short-sighted and unnecessary. There is no need for more coastal drilling. We must do everything necessary to prevent a larger catastrophe in the future." Rep. Lois Capps, D-California, said the spill was a reminder that authorities must be vigilant in protecting the coastline. Capps also said, "Yesterday [Monday] — at the same location as the infamous 1969 oil spill nearly 40 years ago — we had yet another painful reminder that drilling for oil is a dirty and dangerous business."

This event was comparatively small to the previous leak in the same location that occured in 1969. This previous infamous spill unleashed 200,000 gallons of oil across 800 square miles, causing the blackening of 35 miles of coastline and the death of thousands of birds and fish.

The world is in danger, we need to be its superheroes.
Love,
TreeHugger

UN Conference on Global Warming

Based on article Warning Warming from Grist.org; click title for link.

The 12 day UN Conference on global warming was heard on Monday December 1st. They heard that "War, hunger, poverty and sickness will stalk humanity if the world fails to tackle climate change."

The 192 members at the Conference, held in Poznan, Poland, started with warnings and continued in a step to a new worldwide treaty to reduce greenhouse gases and help countries exposed to the wrath of an altered climate. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) is halfway through a two-year process that is leading up to a new contract/ pact in Copenhagen in December of 2009. They hope to condense the current 82 page document into a workable blueprint for negotiations.

Scientific proof from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) proves that the climate change is getting worse. The head of this Panel said, "The impacts of climate change, if there is inaction, can be extremely serious." He went on to list the facts:
The number of people living in severely stressed river basins is projected to rise from 1.4 to 1.6 billion in 1995 to 4.3-6.9 billion in 2050. Between 20 and 30 percent of species assessed will be at increasingly high risk of extinction as global temperatures exceed two to three degrees centigrade (3.6-5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.

"Humankind in its activity just reached the limits of the closed system of our planet Earth," said Polish Environment Minister Maciej Nowicki. He continues, "Further expansion in the same style will generate global threats of really great intensity -- huge droughts and floods, cyclones with increasingly more destructive power, pandemics of tropical disease, dramatic decline of biodiversity, increasing ocean levels...All these can cause social and even armed conflict and migration of people at an unprecedented scale."

Rich Western countries, the major polluters historically, are lobbying for emerging giant countries, such as China and India, to tackle their surging emissions since they will be the polluters of tomorrow. Whereas developing countries want the Western countries to help pay for them to expand their economies. They hope for a breakthrough, but the conference was darkened by the global economic crisis.

However, prime minister of Denmark, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, argued the optimistic side: that investing in green technology created growth and jobs. "I feel confident that the financial crisis will be overcome. The recovery will come. However climate change is not going to become less of a problem in the coming years," he said. Greenpeace agreed saying that the global recession was "nothing compared to the trillions of dollars that climate change will cost us." World Wildlife Fund also agreed, saying "The current finance crunch was the result of ignoring major risks, so let's not repeat this mistake by ignoring the even bigger risks from climate change."

The new American president-elect Obama also brings home globally. He has set a goal of reducing US emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and by 80 percent by 2050, using a cap-and-trade system and a 10-year programme worth 150 billion dollars in renewable energy.

The world is in danger, we need to be its superheroes.
Love,
TreeHugger

PS: Copyright 2008 -- Agence France-Presse

Authors Note: I know that this is old, but I felt it was important and relevant.

Confronting a Fur-Wearer

For many people, being an animal rights activist is hard. Many activists don't like making others feel guilty or uncomfortable, but sometimes you need to be a voice in defense of those who do not have a voice.
Usually, I start by asking if its real fur.. Then usually explain politely yet firmly mention that the animals who are bred in the fur industry are kept in deplorable conditions and are anally electrocuted and then encourage them to donate their coat to homeless people (who are the only people who have an excuse to use a fur to keep warm, as they are unable to purchase coats for themselves) or just say, "Shame. You won't need it in hell."

It is suggested to keep stickers and leaflets in your coat pockets. Often when on the go and just briefly whisking by someone in a fur, you only have time enough to hand them a leaflet. Do be sure to fold the leaflet so that an image of a skinned animal is not the first thing they see, as they will be unlikely to take it from you. There are plenty of beautiful and warm alternatives to fur. Encourage these alternatives.

The world is in danger, we need to be its superheroes.
Love,
TreeHugger

Petitions & Videos

There's a few petitions that I received, and I signed them all but failed my duty to send them to you - my readers.

Here are the links to the petitions:

Tell Congress to End Military Training on Animals! (Must be American)
Urge Britney Spears not to use animals for her new CD, Circus!
Stop the Russian killing of hibernating endangered brown bears!
Ban ivory sales and save African elephants!
Tell Canada to support the Animal Welfare Declaration!
Stop inhumane killings!


There's also quite a few new videos that are out.
For the complete list, check out my youtube subscriptions.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=msmango17&view=subscriptions


Repower America (We Can Solve It):
Obama says it's time to repower America
See the reality behind "clean coal"
Clean energy job
Reality Ad


PETA:
Cute animal videos to teach children to not wear fur!
Religion & Vegetarianism Podcast


Friends of the Earth:
How we can stop climate change - Book recommendation

Nature conservancy:
A healthy future for the Great Bear rainforest


World Wildlife Fund:
New wildlife in Mekong (See future article)


Humane society of US:
Inspirational animal video

The world is in danger, we need to be its superheroes.
Love,
TreeHugger

Behind

Hello readers.
I am terribly apologetic about not giving you anything for the past couple of weeks.
I've been so caught up in school and my email inbox just kept growing and growing and growing, and now I fear it.
So, I've vowed that I will start anew in the New Year and promise not to let this happen ever again!
I know I missed all the chances to tell you how to be eco-friendly this holiday season and all the great stores and charities that would help you out with gift buying and I'm sorry.

However, if there are any emails that I feel are really important then I will give them to you in breif over the next couple of weeks.

Sorry again.
Hope you still read. :)

The world is in danger, we need to be its superheroes.
Love,
TreeHugger

Canadian Coalition

I know. I'm behind on my updates. Again.
But I've been so busy lately, and I'm sorry.
But please sign this petition to support the Canadian Coalition!
http://www.avaaz.org/en/coalition_for_canada/?cl=15296966

Thank you. :D

The world is in danger, we need to be its superheroes.
Love,
TreeHugger