Tears of a Clone

I'm stepping in briefly to recommend Verlyn Klinkenborg's excellent essay on cloning animals for food, "Closing the Barn Door After the Cows Have Gotten Out," in the New York Times. Diversity matters.

Comments

[Kathleen]

From one perspective, a cloned animal looks like a miracle of science. But from another, it looks like what it is: a dead end.

...or should the last two words read "dead meat"?

At the risk of making myself unpopular, I can't sit on my hands. I am compassionate, I am understanding, I am tolerant but I cannot cognitively process the reasoning or the justifications from the majority of sustainability proponents who continue to eat meat -or avoid the topic altogether (as in Cradle to Cradle). Eschewing meat eating is more beneficial to the planet than driving a hybrid and going solar combined (actually greater than everything combined). There is no other strategy with such decisive and immediate impact that the average US citizen can employ. Perhaps a more appropriate recent NYT article is Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler?

This is the one thing that really saddens me about the whole eco movement. Buying green components or using green processes is a pass through cost for manufacturers -and if anything, ups their margins accumulating as growth in total revenue- so where's the sacrifice? I also fret that consumers are into sustainability because it's trendy. Perhaps those jostling for oneupmanship will be persuaded if they know that being a vegetarian is *the* trump card. Who care if the motivation to abstain and sacrifice is shallow, maybe it'll stick :).

I included links but your blog won't take them. You can filter html comments for moderation to avoid spam bots.