Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret Page #5

and their feed crops...

...they were responsible for136 million

acres of rainforest lost to date.

But on their website, I was shocked

to find cattle was not included...

...as one of their four main key issues.

Instead they focused on palm,

pulp and paper, coal, and tar sands?

How could they not have the leading

cause of rain forest destruction?

I had to wonder, why focus

on fossil fuels and not cattle?

Ls it more fossil fuels,

or is it more animal agriculture?

I don't know why we would do

a one-or-the-other.

I'm just wondering, what more is it?

I don't necessarily know what it is.

Could the executive director of one

of the world's largest...

...rainforest protection groups

honestly not know what was going on?

Or even worse, were they hiding it

on purpose? And if so, why?

I went to Amazon Watch

to see if they would say...

...what the leading cause

of rain forest destruction truly is.

The most biologically and culturally

diverse place on the planet...

...is under massive attack right now.

The Amazon rainforest itself could be

gone in the matter of the next 10years.

What is the leading cause

of rain forest destruction?

The leading cause

of rain forest destruction...

...I would say...

Well, just to put it in the context

of what Amazon Watch works on...

...there's many, many drivers

of deforestation, as we call them...

...many different reasons and ways

that rainforests are destroyed.

The main-The ones that cause

the most damage...

...and are the most wide spread

are mega projects...

...such as oil and gas pipelines,

such as mining projects...

...such as mega dam projects.

We're not talking about...

I felt like I was going in circles

with these groups.

As if I were stuck in some strange

"cowspiracy" twilight zone...

...where no one could talk about cows.

I couldn't believe

these organizations just wouldn't say...

...what the leading cause

of rain forest destruction truly is.

I had to ask one more time.

It's hard to say what is the leading cause

of deforestation of the Amazon...

...because they're all destructive,

oil and gas, mining, dams, agriculture.

But in terms of land use,

in terms of the amount of land...

...that is destroyed by...

When we talk about in comparison, all

those different causes of deforestation...

...what is causing the most trees

to fall, for example...

...I think it would definitely

be agriculture.

Unfortunately one of the biggest

causes of deforestation...

...definitely in the Brazilian Amazon,

is agribusiness.

Cattle grazing

and soy production, in particular.

This is really what's going on.

Why do you think that's...?

Like, no one at Greenpeace,

or no one's really saying the whole story.

The whole story about

the main cause of deforestation?

Yeah.

You've brought up

some really good points about...

...why isn't anybody

doing anything about this?

And I think in Brazil, in particular,

when we look at, you know...

...what happened

after the Forest Code was passed...

...and people who were standing up

against the lobbyists and the interests...

...the special interests, the cattle

industry, the agribusiness industry...

...what was happening to them?

People who were speaking out got killed.

And if you look at, you know,

Z Carlos, you look at Claudio...

People who were putting

themselves out there...

...and saying cattle ranching,

you know, is destroying the Amazon...

...a lot of those people who really

put themselves out there...

And look at Dorothy Stang,

you know, the nun who lived out in Para...

...who was killed.

A lot of people will speak up. A lot

of people just keep their mouths shut...

...because they don't wanna be

the next one with the bullet to their head.

Sister Dorothy Stang

was a U.S.-born nun...

...living in the heart

of the Brazilian rainforest.

Her life's work

was to protect the Amazon.

She spoke out openly against

the destruction of rain forest...

...from cattle ranching for years.

Walking home one night,

she was brutally gunned down...

...at point-blank range by a hired gun

from the cattle industry.

After Greenpeace's initial denial

for an interview...

...I wrote again,

begging they reconsider.

Greenpeace got back again,

and said again:

"I'm afraid we've explored the options

here in terms of helping you...

...and are not going to be able

to be involved this time.

You mentioned

you were also speaking to Oceana.

I'm sure they'll be able to give you

some great quotes...

...about ocean-related issues.

Thanks again for thinking of us."

Unbelievable.

With Greenpeace unwilling

to be interviewed...

...I had to find a different avenue

for answers.

There's something really fishy

going on over there.

Fortunately I found

a former Greenpeace board of director...

...who now speaks openly

about the industry.

Environmental organizations, like other

organizations, aren't telling you the truth...

...about what the world needs

from us as a species.

It's so frustrating when the information

is right before their eyes.

It's documented in peer-reviewed

papers and journals.

It's there for every body to see.

But the environmental organizations

are refusing to act.

Nowhere do you find in their policies...

...and nowhere do you find

in the Greenpeace mission...

...that diet is important...

...that animal agriculture is the problem.

They are refusing,

like other environmental organizations...

...to look at the issue.

The environmental community is failing us

and they're failing ecosystems.

And it's so frustrating

to see them do this.

"NRDC, the Earth's best defense."

All right, so here they actually

do have a few things...

...on animal agriculture.

The leading cause of environmental

degradation is too much pollution...

...and too many engines

churning too fast...

...in too many places around the globe.

Late in 2009, World watch reported...

...that livestock causes 51 percent

of green house gas emissions...

...and transportation's around 13.

And on the low end,

the U.N. was around 18 to 30...

...which is more than all transportation

all put together.

National-Internationally?

- Or nationally?

- The entire globe. Yeah.

I think energy production

and transportation...

...are still major sources, so I think...

I'm not gonna comment on that because

I'm not familiar with those numbers.

So it's...

Don't quote me on this,

but that's cow farts.

That's, I think, what that is.

It's...

I think that's cow farts.

Well, that's part of the story.

Methane production from cows

and livestock's flatulence...

...is a major contributor.

But mostly it is due to deforestation

and the waste they produce...

...which is 130times more waste

than the entire human population.

Virtually all without the benefit

of any waste treatment.

NRDC absolutely, as I said,

has a food program.

In fact, we just... Every year we do

the Growing Green Awards...

...and we recognize food innovators,

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