Glenn's blog

Over the recent years more and more information has been coming out about how harmful the production of animal products is to the environment. But by and large the environmental movement has worked really hard to sidestep this whole issue. When they do talk about it they end up advocating for "local" or "grass-fed" animal products, which also have marginally less environmental impact.

Why is this?

Environmentalists provide a continual sense of betrayal to animal rights advocates. We are so aligned on so many issues – and veganism is a step we all have to take if we hope to deal with the problem of feeding the world without a whole new planet – but they are constantly showing little to no concern for the animals involved in their "environment."

Here's my hypothesis. Environmentalists will hardly ever agree with animal rights activists because they are starting from a position of use. The world and the environment are ours to use, and animals are simply a part of that environment.

That's one of the reasons why some of the largest conservation groups were originally "sportsmen's" groups (hunters, fishermen, and other forms of animal killers).

As animal rights activists, we need to see that the environmental movement is founded on an ethic of "use" rather than "care" or even "justice." In other words, the environmental movement is still largely an anthropocentric movement. The world and its inhabitants have value only insofar as they have value to humans. In this sense they are exactly the same as any mining corporation or hunting group. The difference comes in terms of how far into the future they look to determine value and what strategies they employ to conserve resources.

Does this mean that I would suggest we abandon our efforts to reach out to environmentalists? No, but I think we should be more cautious with our belief that environmentalists are our natural allies. To them, abstaining from animal products is just a strategy for conserving other important resources for humans, and they are highly unlikely to ever advocate an end to the exploitation of animals.

I think that we neglect potential alliances with social change movements that are based on rights and an end to exploitation. I think animal rights shares a lot of common foundation with other rights movements. I don't mean to say that we are entirely neglecting these issues, but rather that it does not get the focus and attention it deserves.

I see multiple articles each week discussing the environmental impacts of meat and other efforts to reach an environmental audience, but I hardly ever see articles drawing out the possible connections between social justice issues and animal rights. There are a few, of course, and one great example of some really good content on this topic is the Animal Rights & Anti-Oppression blog. There's also the Food Empowerment Project.

One of the local events in Vancouver that we (Liberation BC) table at is Justice Rocks, a music and social change event. We've been the only animal rights (and the only animal-focused group) there. But the audience is amazingly receptive to the message of animal rights – the fundamental message of non-exploitation, that animals have a right to lead their own lives, just as we do.

I think there are some really strong alliances that could be formed if we support other social justice causes – with or without promoting animal rights to them. Let everyone see that our ethic of non-exploitation really applies across the board. Find and support workers' rights, women's rights, fair trade, and so on. As it becomes more and more apparent that systems of oppression are linked, any work anyone can do to weaken those systems will benefit us all.

At least, that's what I think...