The Lunacy of Environmental Ethics

This morning on CBC Radio 1 I heard what, on the surface, was supposed to be a serious discussion. But I kept thinking that I must have been transported back to April 1st.

The guest was a former beef-farmer turned researcher named Gidon Eshel. You can read more here. He went on in great detail about how eating meat - any kind of meat, but especially beef - is completely unethical and comparatively just as bad as driving an SUV instead of a Prius. Why? Mainly because of ... wait for it ... the amount of a gas a cow expels (farts!) on a daily basis.
I have little doubt that the research numbers of this fellow are probably quite accurate. But I've long realized that EVERYTHING we do leaves a footprint on the environment. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Reading a book
• Going for a walk (unless you're naked and walking in the forest)
• Sleeping (unless you're naked and walking in the forest)
• Watching TV
• Listening to music
• Reading these very words
• Just living

I have little doubt though that the Environmental Righteous Activists (ERA) among us are going to start preaching about the new evil: Eating meat. There'll undoubtedly be some fast food restaurants picketed.

When people get so ridiculous, the only thing to do is to treat them with mockery and sarcasm. I'm going to have some great fun with the ERA acquaintances I know. I'm going to question every single activity they partake in and ask them, in the most serious of tones, whether they're okay living the unethical life they do!