August 15, 2017

Dear Vice President Gore:

At Friends of Animals, we laud Al Gore for his passionate work on climate change—arguably one of the most pressing issues of our time.

However, after seeing the Inconvenient Truth Sequel: Truth to Power, I must say I think it would be more appropriate to call it the Inconvenient Half Truth perhaps.

In your efforts to give a voice to the “truths” of the climate movement—that our climate is changing due to human activity—you only focus on a shift to clean energy as the best way to solve the crisis, and that’s not the whole truth.

For the climate movement to reach a tipping point, you have to address the fact that animal agriculture emits at least 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions measured in carbon dioxide. And in the United States the primary greenhouse gases emitted by animal farms have 20 times and 300 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. That’s startling when you consider that 115 million pigs and 33 million cows are raised and slaughtered in the U.S. every year.

And where was the discussion about human overpopulation? Humans are the most overpopulated animals on the planet. Period.

The carbon legacy and greenhouse gas impact of an extra child is almost 20 times more important than some of the environmentally sensitive practices people might employ their entire lives. And industrialized countries’ energy consumption levels take a larger toll on the environment.

To be clear, Friends of Animals is not anti-children; it is pro family planning and reducing the number of children we have voluntarily.

In the film you discuss the powerful utility and mining lobbyists fighting against solar development and lament President Trump’s decision to withdrawal the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement.

While those are real obstacles in the fight for a sustainable future, there is nothing that can stop people from choosing a plant-based diet, having only one child, adopting a child or having no children at all. They are achievable call to actions, choices that leave people feeling empowered. After all, the government can’t repress what people choose to put on their plates three times a day.

A combination of plant-based diets, smaller families and renewable energy is the trifecta of climate change to propel us into a sustainable future.

And that’s the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Sincerely yours,

Priscilla Feral
President

Friends of Animals