Center for Biological Diversity
Pop X
No. 67, June 24, 2016
Before You Fire Up the Grill...A Look at the Numbers

Earlier this week two seemingly unrelated things happened: Summer officially began, and the Center released a summary of the latest kill reports from Wildlife Services, the highly secretive and deadly arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 2015 Wildlife Services slaughtered more than 3.2 million animals -- a half-million more than the year before -- including 385 gray wolves, 480 black bears, 731 bobcats, 3,437 foxes and at least 68,905 coyotes.

What does this killing program have to do with summertime? Americans eat an average of 818 hotdogs per second during the summer months, and Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day are the top three meat-eating days of the year. Not only does this meat-grilling frenzy take its toll on land, water and the climate, but the animals shot, poisoned and strangled by Wildlife Services are often killed at the behest of the meat industry.

The Center is among those calling for reform of Wildlife Services, but you can help, too, at least three times a day by choosing to eat less meat and not support the livestock industry driving this devastation. Summer is a great time to reconsider what you put on your plate -- and your grill. Check out our Extinction-free BBQ recipes for ideas on how to get started.

For the wild,
Stephanie Feldstein Stephanie Feldstein
Population and Sustainability Director
P.S. Today's world population is: 7,436,878,650. We can still save room for wildlife -- spread the word and share the newsletter below.

Want to Tackle Unsustainable Population Growth? Invest in Teen Girls

Reproductive rights protestWorld Population Day is July 11, but don't feel bad if it's not already marked on your calendar. The United Nations first established the day in 1989 as a way to highlight the many problems rapid human population growth creates, but it doesn't get as much media play as it deserves. That's why the Center is working to spread awareness and make the day a little less obscure.

This year's theme, "investing in teenage girls," is timely. There has never been a larger generation of young people on Earth, and millions of girls around the world aren't getting the modern family planning resources they want and need. In the United States, even as teen pregnancy rates decline and demand for effective long-acting contraception rises among teens, reproductive health rights and access to contraceptives are under attack. Many girls also aren't getting comprehensive sexual education in school, and our national unintended pregnancy rate is still nearly 50 percent.

Today's teen girls will be a force in determining the future of our crowded planet. If we want to have healthy families -- human and wildlife -- we need to protect and expand access to reproductive healthcare, make education widely available for women and girls and ensure everyone has the tools to decide if and when they want to have children -- and how many.

 
 
Crowded Planet video Chad Tudenggonu
A Bright Energy Future

In our latest Crowded Planet vlog, the Center's Leigh Moyer tackles the topic of our ever-growing energy system and its effects on wildlife. While renewable energy is obviously better for the planet than fossil fuels, some projects look -- and act -- like alien death rays, while other (better) ones don't require additional land for generation or transmission, require negligible water use and rack up zero greenhouse gas emissions. Check out our latest video to learn which source is the best bet for wildlife, then share with your friends and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Welcome New Wild Energy Staff

We're excited to welcome a new staff member to the Population and Sustainability team: Chad Tudenggongbu, our new senior renewable energy campaigner. He'll be leading the Center's "Wild Energy" campaign to promote a wildlife-friendly renewable energy future. Chad brings extensive experience working on renewable energy and climate change issues with ICLEIUSA and the British Consulate-General in Chongqing, China. He received his bachelor's degree in cultural anthropology from Duke University and a master's degree in environmental policy from Bard College.

 
Tell Congress: Fix Date Labels to Fight Food Waste
Eggs with dates Yogurt containers Fridge contents

Food date labels are notoriously confusing -- a problem that's led to 90 percent of Americans tossing perfectly safe food because the date printed on the packaging has passed.

A proposal in Congress could create a national system for date labels that distinguishes between when food may have passed its peak freshness and when it may become unsafe.

Help fight food waste by urging your legislators to fix date labels and keep food, money and natural resources out of the garbage.

 
 
Let's Not Find Dory on the Endangered Species List

High fiveDisney's newest animated film, Finding Dory, had a good weekend -- swimming past the competition to make box-office history. But all that success has wildlife advocates worried: An increase in demand for royal blue tangs, the title character's species, and other wild-caught pet fish as a result of the movie could be disastrous for marine wildlife.

After Finding Nemo came out, sales of clownfish soared. Families wanted a Nemo of their own. But what consumers didn't know is that, just like Nemo, they are often taken from their ocean homes. And those captures can be extremely detrimental for fish and the coral reefs they inhabit: Divers actually squirt cyanide poison into the reefs to stun sea life.

While clownfish can now be bred in captivity, blue tangs like Dory can't. That means all the blue tangs you find at a pet store were captured. So what can you do if you just can't get enough Dory? Start by taking action to urge the United States to ban imports of cyanide-stunned fish. And, if you're starting an aquarium of your own, make sure you're getting fish that are reef friendly so Dory and her friends can "just keep swimming."
 
Photo credits: Stephanie Feldstein staff photo; reproductive rights rally by Joe Brusky/Flickr; "Crowded Planet" video still, Center for Biological Diversity; Chad Tudenggongbu staff photo; eggs by Patrick Johanneson/Flickr; yogurt containers by Jason McKim/Flickr; refrigerator by sushiesque/Flickr; blue tang by Rafal Zych/Flickr.
 

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 Population and Sustainability program, visit our website.

To make a donation, click here.

To stop receiving Pop X, click here.
Facebook Twitter

Center for Biological Diversity
P.O. Box 710
Tucson, AZ 85702-0710
Bookmark and Share