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Eat less meat. Save more wildlife

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No. 40, March 21, 2014

In This Issue:

New Meat Campaign: "Take Extinction Off Your Plate" -- Take Action
Celebrate the 44th Earth Day With 44,000 Condoms
Center Joins Call for More Family Planning
Texas Salamanders Saved From Population Pressure
Center Marks 5 Years of Population Advocacy

New Meat Campaign: "Take Extinction Off Your Plate" -- Take Action

As human population grows, so does our ravenous appetite for meat. And it's getting worse: Production of beef, poultry, pork and other meat products tripled between 1980 and 2010, and will likely double again by 2020. With that increase in demand will come an increase in problems of livestock-driven drought, pollution, climate change and wildlife extinction.

Cow herdMany people don't realize what a devastating toll meat production takes on wildlife and the planet. The good news is that reducing your meat consumption is one of the most important -- and easiest -- things you can do to reduce your environmental footprint.

Our planet, and the United States in particular, has a livestock problem, and it's up to us to break the habit. Eat less meat and take extinction off your plate.

Check out our new website, share this infographic, and take the Center for Biological Diversity's Earth-friendly diet pledge.


Celebrate the 44th Earth Day With 44,000 Condoms

Hellbender Endangered Species CondomsFor the 44th Earth Day this April 22, we want to bring the celebration's focus back to where it started, in the root causes of our most pressing environmental issues: runaway human population growth and rapacious overconsumption.

So the Center is seeking volunteer Endangered Species Condoms distributors who will be attending Earth Day events around the country. Do you have an event to attend? Want to help give away 44,000 free condoms? Then we want you. Sign up today to be a part of this anniversary -- share our message that we need to leave room on the planet for wildlife.

Sign up to become an Earth Day Endangered Species Condoms volunteer.


Center Joins Call for More Family Planning

Polar bear familySpring is a time of renewal, not just for plants and wild animals, but also for federal budget discussions. Capitol Hill is buzzing with talk of Fiscal Year 2015 budget appropriations, including how much aid the United States will provide to international family planning programs.

In developing countries an estimated 222 million women who want family planning don't have access to it. In a world where 227,000 people are added to the planet every day, universal access to family planning is critical for the health of women, families, wildlife and the environment.

The decisions we make today will help determine whether the global population reaches 8 billion or 11 billion by 2050 -- an additional 3 billion people means less room for wildlife and fewer natural resources for everyone. That's why the Center has joined our colleagues in the population movement to ask Congress to increase funding for family planning and reproductive health programs around the world.

Learn more about human population growth and the species extinction crisis.


Texas Salamanders Saved From Population Pressure

Georgetown salamanderIn Texas, Georgetown and Salado salamanders recently gained protection under the Endangered Species Act. The decision was spurred by a landmark agreement secured by the Center in 2011 that is fast-tracking federal protection decisions for 757 imperiled species across the country.

These salamanders -- like the Jollyville Plateau salamanders protected last year -- are fully aquatic animals that live in springs and require clean, well-oxygenated water. Urban development and other pressures from a growing population threaten them by disturbing surface springs, polluting their water and reducing its flow to their underground habitats.

Endangered Species Act protections will give these rare salamanders a fighting chance at survival. Curbing population growth and unsustainable development are crucial to giving them a chance to thrive.

Read more about the new protections for Georgetown and Salado salamanders in our press release.


Center Marks 5 Years of Population Advocacy

Five YearsFive years ago the Center for Biological Diversity welcomed a new addition to the family: a full-time campaign dedicated to addressing the link between human population growth and the species extinction crisis.

We've grown a lot in the past five years. We've shed a light on the impact of population growth on wildlife when no one else would. We've given away more than 500,000 free Endangered Species Condoms. We've brought population back to the discussion of environmental issues. And, most recently, we've expanded the program to address our country's addiction to overconsumption through new sustainability campaigns, such as the Earth-friendly Diet campaign launched this week.

Here's to another five years of innovative outreach and hard-hitting campaigns on population and sustainability issues. We're grateful to have you on this journey with us. There's more to come, including more population advocacy, campaigning around energy policy and other critical areas of consumption, and more ways to get involved. Thanks for your support.

Stay tuned.


Until next time,

Stephanie Feldstein

Stephanie Feldstein
Population and Sustainability Director

P.S. For more population and sustainability news, join us on Facebook and Twitter.


Center for Biological Diversity | P.O. Box 710, Tucson, AZ 85702-0710

This is an unmonitored email address; please do not reply. To sign up for Endangered Species Condoms, click here. If you'd like more information on the Center's human population campaign, visit our website. To make a donation, click here. Specific population-related questions can be directed to population@biologicaldiversity.org. Please allow a few days for a response. To stop receiving Pop X, click here.

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Photo credits: cow herd courtesy Flickr/Rick Harrison; Endangered Species Condoms courtesy Flickr/AIDS/SIDA NB; polar bear family courtesy Flickr/tableatny; Georgetown salamander courtesy Wikimedia Commons; fifth birthday candles courtesy Flickr/Andy Eick.