SpaceElevatorMusic t1_j7vp0yu wrote
Hello, and thanks for this AMA.
Speaking of "the difficult choices that must be made to ramp down climate pollution", and given the current concerns about water and land usage in California, does any of your reporting (or that another Los Angeles Times journalist) focus on the unnecessary environmental damage caused in the state by the animal agriculture industry?
Moreover, can I ask for your take on why almost no media outlets cover what should be one of the largest stories in our society; that of animal rights, or the lack thereof? Ironically, it's tabloids like the Daily Mail that do the most coverage of these topics because "vegan activist does X outrageous thing" gets plenty of hate clicks, and occasionally they give quote one or two sentences from said activist.
Sammy_Roth t1_j7vqhx1 wrote
Hey there, thank you for the question! I personally haven't done much reporting on animal agriculture, but I did write this piece a few years ago about the gas industry's push for "renewable natural gas" harvested from cow manure, and the potential for that push to fuel continued pollution from mega-dairies: https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2020-04-09/cow-poop-california-clean-energy-future.
With regards to your question about animal rights, I'm not sure I have a great answer on that. Obviously there's a wide range of views on that topic, and I imagine a lot of people (even most people?) would disagree that it should be one of the largest stories in our society. That's not necessarily a good reason not to cover, but I imagine it probably has something to do with it.
SpaceElevatorMusic t1_j7vrrxx wrote
I appreciate your responses.
To the second point, I fully agree that most people would not regard it as one of the most important stories. Nevertheless, I think the scale of the problem speaks for itself: so far this year, over 6 billion animals have been killed for food in the US alone. There is an emerging scientific consensus that many animals, including the kinds most frequently farmed, fished, or hunted, are sentient and have the capacity to suffer. And they do suffer; the practices that take place, particularly but not exclusively on industrial farms, are exempted from animal cruelty laws. Just food for thought for future coverage.
Sammy_Roth t1_j7vseap wrote
Seriously, I appreciate this -- thank you for sharing.
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