In an exclusive interview with PETA, Sir Paul McCartney has a lot to say about why eating meat is the worst thing you can do for the environment. I just want to say this one more time, so I can relish the moment: Exclusive. Paul McCartney. Interview. OK, I’m going to shut up now, and let the man talk.

What do you think is the most personal change a person can make in their own lifestyle to help the environment? Some people often think recycling and taking shorter showers is all they need to do. What would you add?

I think the biggest change anyone could make in their own lifestyle would be to become vegetarian. Although this may seem to some like an unusual answer, the Global Meat Industry and the land & water required to service it is one of the major contributors to Global Warming. This surprising fact has emerged in research over the past few years. So I would urge everyone to think about taking this simple step to help our precious environment and save it for the children of the future.

What do you think about the fact that most major environmental organizations and the most prominent environmental advocates are omitting vegetarianism from their list of the top ways to help curtail global warming?

I think it's very surprising that most major environmental organisations are leaving the option of going vegetarian off their lists of top ways to curtail global warming. Of course there are many powerful businesses which would wish to resist this idea but it is becoming clearer that a simple change in peoples' lifestyles could make a major difference to our environment. What is interesting is that nowadays it is so easy to become vegetarian and so many people are reducing meat in their diet. That is a simple but extremely effective step that many people could take to help the environment and improve their own health at the same time.

How do you feel about the disappearance of birds, other wild animals and natural places around the globe?

It is such a pity that the wildlife and natural places of this beautiful planet we inhabit are being destroyed by thoughtless industrialization. This scandal can be halted and there are hopeful signs that people are starting to realize that this must be done to secure a brighter future for our children and theirs.

What do you feel is the best step for a person who is concerned about over-fishing, marine pollution and the clear-cutting of the ocean floor by commercial fisheries, to take?

Unfortunately many people seem to think that vegetarians eat fish but this is not so and when you consider the over fishing, the marine pollution and the huge damage to our precious oceans that are caused by commercial fishing it becomes obvious that a vegetarian lifestyle would greatly improve our environment and help to save our oceans. The surprising thing is that even though many of us, including me, were brought up as traditional meat and fish eaters, it is a simple matter these days and an exciting one to consider changing your diet to a healthier one which not only brings benefits to the person who does it but also to the planet as a whole.

MySpace superstar Colbie Caillat, who’s more or less poised to take over the world after her smash hit song “Bubbly” tore up the charts this year, recently sat down with my esteemed colleague Nicole Nuss to talk about what she does to keep the animals in her life happy. She’s adorable.

This is pretty rad. It's a website that gives experts in various fields a forum to explain their point of view on a wide array of topics related to their specific area of knowledge. PETA President Ingrid Newkirk has a page of video responses to questions that run the gamut from what the biggest misconceptions are about the animal rights movement to where human rights and animal rights diverge. I've posted a video below on the topic of why PETA uses graphic imagery to get the message across, and you can see the rest of Ingrid's video interviews (there are, like, 30 of them) here. Good stuff.

Ingrid Newkirk in India, symbolically averting Gandhi’s eyes from the cruel “Jallikatu” festival earlier this month

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a blog asking if people had a specific question for Ingrid, and it turns out that a lot of people do! She’s just back from her trip to India (for more on how that went, click here), and she took some time today to respond to the questions. You can read the resulting “interview with Ingrid” below. Not all the comments and emails I received are addressed in this interview (otherwise this entry would be, like, 12 pages long), but if you asked a question that’s not featured here, I’ll hit you up with a response by email. Enjoy!

When did you become a vegetarian/vegan and what exactly prompted you to make that decision?

In my book, Making Kind Choices, I talk about what a slow learner I was. How I first stopped eating escargot after watching some snails looking for an escape route out of a paper bag, shellfish after ordering a lobster on my birthday and realizing he was broiled alive for my fleeting taste, and finally, going vegetarian after rescuing a little pig abandoned on a farm to starve to death. It was hard 45 or more years ago, now it's easy as (tofu cream) pie.

I am only a kid but I saw your show and know all I want to do is help. But how?

Every one of us, no matter if under eight or over eighty, is powerful. We all influence the marketplace. You may send PETA $50 (and we are grateful) but you spend thousands a year on food, household products, shampoo, clothes, entertainment, gardening supplies, candles, I don't know what all. If those goods are tested on animals or made from the parts of animals who have suffered greatly in slaughterhouses, or come at the expense of animals being carted around in small cages (the circus, for instance), then we have a problem. But if you choose compassionately, then you are a powerful consumer. And your voice, the leaflets you leave everywhere, will educate others and get them to understand. Your advocacy makes a whole world of difference.

There are quite a few chain clothing stores that sell fur and fur trim. How does PETA choose which ones to target for a campaign?

At the launch of the Indian version of 50 Awesome Ways Kids Can Help Animals

Ah, that would give away our secret formula. We look at many factors, but among them are how many animals suffer and in what ways, how popular they are, how out of synch this is with their line/brand/image. The important thing is to never cut any retailer any slack, but complain, complain, complain and do not help them sustain (by buying in that store) if they carry fur. The same goes for people you see in the ugly stuff. Polite is fine, but saying something, anything, is vital. Don't let them go home thinking no one did anything but admire their cruel choice.

I would love to know your stand on giving drugs to animals. Both my husband and I are vegans and have made the decision not to use drugs tested on animals but find it really hard when one of my animals need medication.

You are lovely people. If there is a non-tested (natural) remedy, great. If not, well, please do all you can to join us in pushing the FDA to change its outdated animal testing methods for 21st century tests. After all, we have whole human DNA on the web and super-computers we can program with the right data for the right species.

When people ask me, 'why do you care about animals?' I am starting to feel stuck with answers and was wondered if you have any really good comebacks when you are asked question's like that?

Ingrid feeding one of the overworked bulls that PETA India is trying to save from becoming leather shoes and belts

I'd ask "why don't YOU?" What an odd question, really. It's like asking "Why do you care about the planet?" You just do. Or should. Especially, if you have the power every day to help or hurt. When people ask me "Why are you vegan?" I want to ask "Why aren't you vegan", but I do tell them exactly why. After all, eating meat is all about not having the discipline to overcome a desire for a taste habit, whereas being vegan is all about being kind, being healthy, being a responsible environmentalist, leaving enough resources for others to share.

Would it be effective for all of us to gather in one place to flex our strength and end one or more of the horrible things happening to animals?

That might indeed be the case, but I'm afraid we human beings will never agree which ONE horror to unite about, so I think we must all do as much as we can to combat as many horrors as possible. The more activism we expend, the quicker we will have total animal liberation. And sometimes it takes only one person, not the whole lot of us, to bring about a change. One letter can sway a whole corporation to drop a product like sticky glue traps for mice, one phone call can get a mall to stop sponsoring one of those cheap traveling zoo shows.

Can you ever, in reality see an end to factory farming and animal experimentation?

I think I was born an activist. Injustice makes me see red. And I always cared about animals. I was living in India when I was eight and actually stopped a man from beating a bull who had collapsed with exhaustion from pulling a heavy cart in the sun. Whether or not we will ever have an end to all cruelty, even to factory farming (although I think the water shortages of the future will put paid to that), we can make a difference for so many animals by helping open people's hearts and minds and eyes to the alternatives to the suffering around them.

Where’s Alex Pacheco?

Alex and I, like any human beings, had our agreements and disagreements, but he worked hard at PETA for many years. He did some great undercover investigations, including the one that got Exxon and other gas companies to cap their stacks, down which went flying (and then frying) birds and small mammals who got caught and couldn't get out. It is hard for someone to do those investigations and Alex moved on about nine years ago now. He deserved a rest.

How do you maintain your strength, your energy, your being, after being present in slaughter houses and watching hours and hours and HOURS of undercover footage of animal abuse? How do you not get too depressed to function?

If you close your eyes, it does not go away. I feel pressure to work hard and try to change lots. I imagine myself in their place. BUT, I try not to watch more footage than I have to. I try to show it to those who need to see it in order to understand why bad habits must change! Please use our videos everywhere you can, at the bottom of your signature on your email, to show to visitors and schools and clubs and relatives. A video is worth a million words. When I am in danger of being overwhelmed by human supremacism's vicious consequences, I watch a funny movie, read something amusing, or go for a walk in the fresh air.

How do you respond to those that are unaware of what's really happening and refuse to believe it?

I'm more interested in the fence-sitters, although if you bang your head against a brick wall hard enough, the brick wall will eventually fall.

How do you convince them otherwise?

Dare them to watch those films—but don't be there in the end, so they don't have to be resistant and defensive. Just dare them to watch and then ignore them.

HBO’s I Am an Animal: The Story of Ingrid Newkirk and PETA was officially released on DVD today, so you should definitely put in an order for it if you haven’t seen it yet. Although it leaves out one kind of important point, the documentary is a fascinating look at the inner workings of PETA—from how the organization’s campaign ideas are born to what goes into an undercover investigation to what Ingrid Newkirk eats for breakfast.

To save you the trouble, the answer to that last question is “oatmeal,” but if you have some more pressing questions for Ingrid after watching this documentary, now’s the time to ask them. Either leave a comment with your (polite) question, or just e-mail it to me, and I’ll compile them all and pass them onto her. I’ll send her the questions over the next few days and post a blog with the answers in a couple of weeks’ time.

Check out this fantastic piece by David Shankbone that went up on WikiNews this week. Shankbone interviewed Ingrid about her reaction to the HBO documentary about PETA that just aired. Well worth a read.

Click here to read it.

montanakids/Creative Commons

When the Tour de France begins tomorrow, America's top hope, and the Team Discovery leader, will be a Montana native at the peak of his career named Levi Leipheimer. In addition to being just a really exceptionally good cyclist, Levi is passionate about helping animals, and he recently took some time to talk to PETA about the role that animal protection plays in his life. He also shot an ad for us, which we'll be releasing in a few weeks' time, so I will definitely let you know as soon as that bad boy finds its way onto our site and into the magazines. In the meantime, you should check out Levi's interview below. Dude is a winner, and you can be certain that I'll be pulling for him tomorrow when he hits the streets in London. (Yes, the Tour de France begins in London this year. I'm sure they had their reasons.)

When did you decide to pursue cycling professionally?

I started riding when I was 13, and I basically knew then that it was what I wanted to do. I race for seven months of the year and train for 10. During the off-season, I usually ride my mountain bike for fun. In an average training week, I ride between two and seven hours a day.

We heard that you enjoy eating vegetarian food. Is there one vegetarian dish that you would recommend for athletes in training?

Every day when I head out on my bike, I'm fueled by an energy-packed vegetarian breakfast of oatmeal, apples, blueberries, strawberries, and nuts. I've done this for years. My favorite post-ride meal is pasta with lots of garlic and sunflower seeds or pine nuts.

You are a top professional athlete, but you still find time to do animal rescue work. Can you tell us about some of the things that you do to help animals in your free time?

[My wife and I have] had a revolving door of foster animals in California and in Spain. I help out by playing with the animals who need to be socialized and by transporting them when needed. We've had about 100 fosters over the years.

There have also been many occasions when I've gotten a call from my wife, Odessa, after she has found an animal on the side of the road while riding her bike. I've done a lot of these emergency pickups for squirrels, frogs, birds, cats, dogs, turtles—you name it.

How did you become involved with helping animals? Did you have any animal companions growing up?

Growing up, we had dogs and cats and a lot of squirrels and chipmunks in the yard, but it wasn't until I met Odessa that I learned true compassion for animals. She will drop everything in her life if she suddenly encounters an animal in need, no matter what. She's risked her own safety to help animals on many occasions. Once you see that in person and witness the difference you can make in the life of another creature, you'll never turn and look away from an animal in need.

We heard that when you travel to Europe for the cycling season, you take your dogs with you. What is that like, and is it difficult to fly them from California to Spain?

Traveling with animals has been a learning experience. Because our dogs are so small, we're able to take all three of them in the cabin with us. We wouldn't do it otherwise. The airlines have very strict rules concerning pets in the cabin, so you have to be very careful.

You have been kind enough to agree to work with PETA on a new spay-neuter campaign. What message would you like to get out to folks about how they can help reduce companion animal overpopulation?

In the Unites States, there really isn't any excuse for not spaying and neutering your pets. There are low-cost spay-neuter options in almost every city and town. All you have to do is look.

You have a lot of fans out there, which gives you a powerful platform to reach people and make a difference. What is your message to them about having compassion and getting active to help animals?

The world belongs to animals, too—it's not just ours for the taking. Be kind to animals. And spay and neuter your pets.