United States-Animal Rights flex their financial muscles.

UNITED STATES-ANIMAL RIGHTS FLEX THEIR MUSCLES.

A representative of PETA, which owns 616 shares of stock in Tyson Foods Inc., will present a statement in favor of PETA’s shareholder resolution at the company’s annual meeting in Springdale on Friday. PETA is calling on Tyson to label all meat packages with information about the greenhouse-gas emissions "footprint" that its products pass on to consumers. PETA points out that meat production is the leading cause of climate change and that some food companies have already begun labeling products with per-serving greenhouse-gas emissions information. Tyson is the second-largest chicken producer in the world and also a major producer of pork and beef with annual sales of more than $26 billion:

The following are just a few of the recent findings about meat’s devastating impact on the environment:

* U.N. scientists have determined that raising animals for food generates more greenhouse-gas emissions than all the cars, SUVs, trucks, and planes in the world combined.

* Researchers at the University of Chicago determined that switching to a vegan diet is more effective in countering climate change than switching from a standard car to a Toyota Prius.

* According to Environmental Defense, if every American substituted vegetarian foods for chicken at just one meal per week, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than a half-million cars off U.S. roads.

"If meat is on the menu, so is a hefty serving of greenhouse gases," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "Consumers have a right to know how much Tyson’s conversion of animals into meat is contributing to climate change."