Photos: Fire Drill Friday – Forests Can’t Wait, with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, United States Capitol, Washington, DC

Photos: Fire Drill Friday – Forests Can’t Wait, with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, United States Capitol, Washington, DC

2019.12.27 Fire Drill Fridays with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, Washington, DC USA 361 172091
2019.12.27 Fire Drill Fridays with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, Washington, DC USA 361 172091 (View on Flickr.com)

It was dramatic and emotional (for me) to see Lily Tomlin arrested on the steps of the United States Capitol. I’ve been a fan of her work for a big part of my life, and I applaud her taking a stand against fossil fuels and policies that don’t mitigate climate change. I wish she didn’t have to.

2019.12.27 Fire Drill Fridays with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, Washington, DC USA 361 172169
2019.12.27 Fire Drill Fridays with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, Washington, DC USA 361 172169 (View on Flickr.com)

I’ve attended several Fire Drill Fridays (@Firedrillfriday) at this point. This week’s topic is Forests can’t wait. See: Forests Can't Wait — Fire Drill Fridays

I have found the events to be educational and a useful platform to bring more people into understanding climate change.

My comment on impact of dietary choices

Overall I appreciated the accuracy of the information and resources provided. For more about what’s happening in the Amazon, a few resources:

While there were several calls for attendees to go vegan at the event, Jane Fonda was more moderate in suggesting eating less meat, with the understanding that going vegan is not an option for most people (as the data shows). This image helps tell a story about the many ways people can reduce their carbon footprint.

At one point in the program, an attendee yelled “eat less meat,” which was echoed by others with “and less soy.”

2019.12.27 Fire Drill Fridays with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, Washington, DC USA 361 172073
2019.12.27 Fire Drill Fridays with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, Washington, DC USA 361 172073 (View on Flickr.com)

When it comes to diet, a blanket pronouncement that all humans should be vegan is not consistent with the recommendations of many climate scientists, and there’s copious data that this is not the dominant way a person can reduce their footprint. I reviewed mine recently, with detail about its calculation: (Calculating carbon footprint as a non-diabetic physician on an LCHF diet)

2018.05 Low Carb and Low Carbon - Ted Eytan MD-1001 793
2018.05 Low Carb and Low Carbon – Ted Eytan MD-1001 793 (View on Flickr.com)

It’s important to review all sources of carbon emissions in one’s life, as well as matching to choices that maximize personal health and planetary health. We can’t be healthy humans on a sick planet, or sick humans on a healthy one.

Palm oil

This commodity was also discussed at the event. Looking at its roots in our food supply also tells an important story, this from 1994:

The (Unilever) project, for reasons Van Duijn can’t explain, was called “Paddington”. First, he needed to figure out what could replace trans fat while maintaining its favourable properties, such as remaining solid at room temperature – a necessity for inexpensive butter substitutes as well as manufactured goods such as cookies. In the end, there was only one choice: oil from the oil palm tree – either palm oil (extracted from the fruit) or palm kernel oil (from the seed). No other oil could be refined to the consistency needed for Unilever’s various margarine blends and baked goods without producing trans fat. It was the only alternative to partially hydrogenated oilsSee: How the world got hooked on palm oil | News | The Guardian

And indeed, most of the saturated fat in the Standard American Diet (SAD) comes from processed foods. A move to this plant-based oil, as well as soy for protein has unintended consequences…

This a climate emergency and now is a time to learn, be present, and focus on data, over dogma. More photos below, all @CreativeCommons licensed, enjoy.

2019.12.27 Fire Drill Fridays with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, Washington, DC USA 361 01012
2019.12.27 Fire Drill Fridays with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, Washington, DC USA 361 01012 (View on Flickr.com)

1 Comment

Ted Eytan, MD