Savor the whales

Anybody who knows me could tell you that I'm all about green living, reducing my carbon footprint, and all that bullshit. So, in the interest of saving Mother Earth, I may have to start eating whale:

Eat a whale and save the planet, a Norwegian pro-whaling lobby said on Monday of a study showing that harpooning the giant mammals is less damaging to the climate than farming livestock.

Environmental group Greenpeace dismissed the survey, saying almost every kind of food was more climate friendly than meat.

The survey, focused on whale boats' fuel use, showed that a kilo (2.2 lbs) of whale meat represented just 1.9 kilo (4.2 lbs) of greenhouse gases against 15.8 for beef, 6.4 for pork and 4.6 for chicken.

"Basically it turns out that the best thing you can do for the planet is to eat whale meat compared to other types of meat," said Rune Froevik of the High North Alliance, which represents the interests of coastal communities in the Arctic.

"Greenhouse gas emissions caused by one meal of beef are the equivalent of eight meals of whale meat," the study said.

Well, I'd really like to do my part by tucking into a delicious whale steak, but it turns out whale meat is hard to get around here, since the only people who are allowed to practice whaling in the U.S. are some Eskimos and an Indian tribe up in Washington.

The blame for this environmentally irresponsible policy rests squarely on the shoulders of George W. Bush and his Big Oil cronies. Probably.