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Videos on Animal Welfare, Animal Rights, Biodiversity

CATEGORY:  FOOD, ANIMAL WELFARE — 11.FEB.2015

Diet Science

Pastured vs. Free-Range vs. Cage-Free vs. Organic Eggs—What's The Difference? — Dee McCaffrey says the problems with conventional eggs range from low-quality feed to inhumane growing conditions. Organic eggs use better feed and have better growing conditions, but access to outdoors is sometimes more theory than practice in large organic operations. She rightly promotes eggs from backyard chickens as the best choice, with eggs from pastured chickens another good way to go.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   10:53

GP comment:  All that is correct. But McCaffrey also asserts that most people who are use pastured hens to raise eggs are also using organic or non-GMO feed. I suspect not even a majority of them do. I agree that pastured eggs are a top priority, but shoppers should also look for the organic or GMO-free labels. "Trust but verify." She also conflates GMO-free with soy-free, which are not at all the same thing. And "cage-free" usually means "in a crowded barn," and there is no rule that cage-free chickens must have access to outdoors. See the Humane Society's How to Read Egg Carton Labels for more info on terms related to eggs. Bawk!

Original Show Pub Date: 19.Jan.2015

CATEGORY:  ENVIRONMENT (POLLUTION), SPECIES — 01.DEC.2014

Quirks and Quarks

Lakes Turning to Jelly — The problem of acid rain is often touted as one of the few success stories in controlling pollution, as the industrial emissions that cause it have been cut substantially. But the environmental damage and disruption caused by acid rain still echo in the wilderness. One example discovered is the "jellification" of temperate lakes, where acid rain has reduced calcium content, an essential element for most lake organisms. This has caused some crustaceans at the base of the aquatic food chain—the ones that make their exoskeletons from calcium—to be at a disadvantage, and they're now being displaced by species that have a jelly-like coating. These jelly organisms are inedible to many predators and thus are disruptive to the lakes' ecological balance.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   10:43

GP comment:  And what do geoengineering proponents most often propose to push back global warming? Why, of course, to blast sulfate particles—the most toublesome of the old acid rain pollutants—into the atmosphere.

Original Show Pub Date: 22.Nov.2014

CATEGORY:  ENVIRONMENT, SPECIES — 10.OCT.2014

Living on Earth

Obama Creates the World's Largest Ocean Reserve — President Obama expanded the Pacific Remote Islands National Marine Monument, protecting nearly half a million square miles of Pacific Ocean from commercial exploitation. Elliott Norse of the Marine Conservation Institute talks about the impact of the reserve on the ecosystem and the precedent it sets for global conservation.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   6:40

GP comment:  A decent action. All presidents do this sort of thing. It's an easy green credit, much easier than taking meaningful action on issues like nuclear, chemicals, GMOs, sprawl, peak oil....

Original Show Pub Date: 03.Oct.2014

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