Stop me if you know the answer to this one, “What is the one single industry destroying the planet more than any other?”

We all know the answer to that one … Right?

The fossil fuel industry, of course. And we feel completely helpless to stop the Drilling and the Fracking and the Mining. No matter what we do - we know Global Climate Change is here. It’s going to get worse, and there’s nothing we can do about it. We can leave all our cars in the driveway, take shorter showers, change out all our light bulbs, get a low-flow toilet, recycle every scrap, think globally and buy locally, and it won’t make any discernable difference at all. Personal change won’t save the planet as long as the energy barons are calling the shots. Billionaires are buying the politicians hand over fist, while suppressing the vote and simultaneously lying to voters on a minute-by-minute basis with the full cooperation of the media. Go ahead. Take shorter showers. Control of the “system” has been systematically taken away from us. There’s nothing we can do so we might as well crack open a beer, sit on the porch, and watch the sun go down on all of us.

This is a pretty typical “Moment With Bob” isn’t it? In one paragraph I can suck all the air out of the room and replace hope and optimism with despair. What can I say… It’s a gift. But hold on to your socks, buckle up, and make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position, because we’re about to make a full 180 … Right Now.

Personal Change Can Save The Planet. But we’ve got to hurry.

I just found this out a couple of days ago and I’m still kind of overwhelmed. I never imagined this could happen, but it did. I watched a documentary That Changed My Life. After an event like that, of course I’ve tipped over and become evangelical about it.

Everybody Must See This Film: "COWSPIRACY: The Sustainability Secret"

You’ll find out the one single industry destroying the planet more than any other is not Big Oil, Coal, and Gas but:

Animal Agriculture.

And there is something we can do about it. Starting Right Now. And if we do … we’ve just bought ourselves a future.

Go here: cowspiracy.com, watch all the video clips, and read everything. Find a screening, go to a theatre, or host a screening yourself. You Must See This Film.

Now I’ll stop typing for awhile and cut and paste information from cowspiracy.com.

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There is one single industry destroying the planet more than any other.

But no one wants to talk about it...

"COWSPIRACY: The Sustainability Secret" is a groundbreaking feature-length environmental documentary following an intrepid filmmaker as he uncovers the most destructive industry facing the planet today – and investigates why the world's leading environmental organizations are too afraid to talk about it.

The Air

Transportation is responsible for 13% of all greenhouse gas emissions.

Animal agriculture is responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, more than all transportation combined.

Livestock and their byproducts actually account for at least 32,000 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, or 51% of all worldwide greenhouse gas emissions.

Methane has a global warming power 86 times that of CO2.

Cows produce 150 billion gallons of methane per day.

Livestock is responsible for 65% of all emissions of nitrous oxide – a greenhouse gas 296x more destructive than carbon dioxide and which stays in the atmosphere for 150 years.

Water

Fracking (hydraulic fracturing) water use ranges from 70-140 billion gallons annually.

Animal agriculture use ranges from 34-76 trillion gallons of water annually.

Growing feed crops for livestock consumes 56% of water in the US.

One hamburger requires 660 gallons of water to produce – the equivalent of 2 months’ worth of showers.

2,500 gallons of water are needed to produce 1 pound of beef.

477 gallons of water are required to produce 1 pound of eggs; 900 gallons of water are needed for cheese.

1,000 gallons of water are required to produce 1 gallon of milk.

The meat and dairy industries combined use nearly 1/3 (29%) of all the fresh water in the world today.

Destruction of the biosphere

Animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution, and habitat destruction.

130 times more animal waste than human waste is produced in the US – 1.4 billion tons from the meat industry annually. 5 tons of animal waste is produced for every person.

A farm with 2,500 dairy cows produces the same amount of waste as a city of 411,000 people.

Animal agriculture is responsible for 91% of Amazon destruction.

Resource Consumption Comparison

Throughout the world, humans drink 5.2 billion gallons of water and eat 21 billion pounds of food each day.

Worldwide, cows drink 45 billion gallons of water and eat 135 billion pounds of food each day.

1.5 acres can produce 37,000 pounds of plant-based food.

1.5 acres can produce 375 pounds of meat.

Each day, a person who eats a vegan diet saves 1,100 gallons of water, 45 pounds of grain, 30 sq ft of forested land, 20 lbs CO2 equivalent, and one animal’s life.

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There. I’m back. I don’t have the time to recount the entire 90 minute movie but the bottom line is this: If we change our diet, we can begin to heal the planet. In Our Lifetime.

We don’t have to vote then hope for change. We don’t have to march in protest. We don’t have to stand by and let the oligarchs dictate our future. We don’t need to wait for an election or a revolution. We can slow global climate change. We can. All we have to do is change what we eat. All we have to do is start.

That’s it.

Reducing the methane and the CO2 in the atmosphere will happen when we decrease - then stop - Animal Agriculture. We can pull back from future tipping points. If you think this is too simplistic … that it won’t work … don’t argue with me … Watch The Movie.

"COWSPIRACY: The Sustainability Secret"

And we can’t just switch over to fish as a substitute for meat, eggs and dairy. More facts from Cowspiracy:

75% of the world’s fisheries are exploited.

90 million tons of fish are pulled from our oceans each year.

As many as 40% (63 billion pounds) of fish caught globally every year are discarded as by-kill.

The simple fact is commercial fishing is over-fishing and obviously not sustainable.

The solution is to adopt a vegan diet. For anyone who says it’s too hard to change to a vegan diet … hey … you’re talking to The King of baby back ribs. I celebrated my birthdays with cheeseburgers at Dick’s Drive-In in Seattle. Until very recently my mantra was if you want to make anything taste better … add pork. If you think becoming a vegan is too hard … no it’s not. Dragging Dick Cheney into a courtroom is hard. Switching over to a vegan diet is a piece of cake compared to rounding up war criminals. And it’ll save the planet.

The Internet is chockablock with information about transitioning to a vegan diet and there’s a wonderful book, The 30-Day Vegan Challenge, by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. She’ll hold your hand through the entire process. I found a recipe yesterday that’s certainly going to help me, Vegan Burgers That Don't Suck from seriouseats.com.

The ball is back in our court. Isn’t that amazing?

The moment COWSPIRACY: The Sustainability Secret is available on DVD I am going to buy it. And then I’m going to buy a copy for everyone I know. Spoiler Alert: This is what everybody’s getting for Christmas.