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Sentient Media: Climate Groups Finally Recognize the Link Between Factory Farming and Climate Change

We’re celebrating our second Earth Day in the midst of a global pandemic, which, in just one year, has redefined the word “normal” for us all. Yet COVID-19’s disruption has also afforded us an opportunity to hit the reset button and establish a resilient, sustainable new normal. We’ve long counted on environmental groups to model what this sustainable future looks like—one where single-use plastics are rare and electric vehicles are business as usual. But what about our fragile food system, which has all but crumbled under the pandemic’s weight? Does the way the climate movement eats line up with its own sustainable values?

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Happy Eco News: A Resilient New Normal

(This piece was originally featured on Happy Eco News on September 14, 2020.) Hello, Happy Eco News readers! My name is Laura, and I’m writing to you from the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, where I’ve recently made a home for my pitbull mix, potbellied big, and myself, nestled between the trees and the Read More

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One Green Planet: World Rainforest Day: Go Plant-Based to Save Our Rainforests

Originally published by One Green Planet. It’s tough, in the midst of a global pandemic, to find a cause for celebration this World Rainforest Day. And the smoke still lingers from the Amazonian fires that lit up the headlines nearly a year ago. From their ashes have crystallized the realization: There is no just or sustainable return to life Read More

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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Replace meat with plant protein

This letter to the editor appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on May 6, 2020. As slaughterhouses shutter, meat cases may start looking quite different, with empty shelves and fewer options (May 5, “Region’s Grocery Stores Set Limits on Meat Sales”). Yet this impending “meat shortage” isn’t a crisis. It’s an open door for an important Read More

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Sentience and Speciesism

(An article written for my college newspaper, the Randolph-Macon Yellow Jacket, in 2009) Most people believe that animals can feel pleasure and pain. We shower our dogs and cats with love, affection, and even birthday gifts, eager for a tail wag or sloppy kisses in return. Conversely, we’re overcome with guilt when our busy feet happen Read More

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PETA at the Kansas State Fair

I crafted the below letter to the Kansas State Fair (and similar letters to other fairs around the country) asking for permission for PETA to erect a booth to show the grisly, often overlooked side of animal agriculture. The application resulted in a booth, and even a lawsuit over censorship ensued, covered by national outlets Read More