Your 5 Minute Activist Links for May 4, 2008

** Union of Concerned Scientists **
According to a new Union of Concerned Scientists report, the true cost of meat and milk produced in massive CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations) includes billions in unaccounted-for taxpayer dollars that pay for the economic, health, and environmental problems CAFOs create.

CAFOs are supported by misguided government policies. Meanwhile, modern, alternatives are already in practice today that can produce the quantity of food we need, often without government subsidies. These alternatives can safeguard our health while protecting the foundations of our food supply—like healthy soil and fresh water. Please sign our petition to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), asking him to end policies that give an unfair advantage to the polluting CAFO industry and to support modern alternatives instead.
--

** Environmental Defense **
Senator George Voinovich (R-OH) proposed legislation that would postpone meaningful action on global warming pollution for at least twenty years.

In the meantime, the proposal would take away state authority to control global warming pollution, undermining efforts in dozens of states, including California, Florida, and the Northeast members of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which have set ambitious emissions reduction targets.

We need to do everything we can to defeat Senator Voinovich's sham proposal. Email your Senators today.
--

** Natural Resources Defense Council **
Recently, the Bush Administration stripped endangered species protection from gray wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies. These wolves face a range of threats, including the use of two toxic chemicals in government-run predator control programs. Please ask your Representative to support HR 4775, a bill banning two deadly poisons that kill gray wolves and many other wildlife species.

Tell Congress to Ban Wildlife Poisons!