My "Happy New Year" List of...

Great Things that "Can" Happen

...but only if we buy ourselves some time...

SOS #255 -- J. Morris Hicks -- (1-1-24)

Yesterday, I noticed a new list from Dr. Eliot Jacobson on Twitter (X) @EliotJacobson. It is a list of 23 actions that, if all were taken, we just might have a decent chance of reversing climate change.

At the top of the list, he clarifies:

• To be clear, this is not a list of things that "cannot happen" -- they all *can* happen.
• But, he adds that this is a list of things that "ain't gonna happen."

He's probably right about that second statement, but I choose to believe that there is a possibility that we can "make them happen." It may all boil down to figuring out how we can buy ourselves some time.

We just need enough time to promote the possibility of educating the world regarding the magic inherent in a whole food, plant-based diet.

Jacobson's list below appears as it did on his website -- except for one item that I will explain after you peruse his list of 22 possibilities for humanity.

But, being a realist, with a lengthy background in assessing risk for the gaming industry, he's calling it as he sees it.

A former university professor of computer science and mathematics, I discovered him last summer when he appeared on CNN in July -- reporting on a trio of climate events that had gone unreported by the likes of celebrity climate scientists like Michael Mann and James Hansen.

I reported on that trio of climate events in SOS Memo #223. The next week, after corresponding with Dr. Jacobson, I featured his work in the memo, entitled: "A Doomer with a Sense of Humor."

So let's get to his list. Based on his professional analysis, he titled the list as follows -- and he's probably right, but there's always a chance!

Things that "Can" Happen...

But "Ain't Gonna Happen" (AGH)

1. End use of fossil fuels (Just Stop Oil)
2. Reduce anthropogenic methane 30% by 2030
3. 50% reduction in CO2 by 2030
4. Carbon capture and storage reversing "overshoot"
5. All trucks, trains, military and agricultural machinery go EV
6. Global nuclear power buildout.
7. Global use of fusion or some other novel energy source
8. Geoengineering: stratospheric aerosols
9. Geoengineering: MEER reflection project
10. Geoengineering: Re-freeze Arctic/Antarctic
11. Planting at least on trillion trees
12. Stay within the Paris limit of 1.5 C (or even 2.0 C)
13. Ban private jets and non-essential air travel
14. End plastic packaging & massively reduce plastics
15. Cleanup forever chemicals, nuclear waste & plastic pollution.
16. Green energy transition to 100% renewables
17. Ending capitalism and redistribution of wealth
18. Contraception & family planning, leading to stable population
19. Fully-funded loss and damage fund & full climate reparations
20. Equitable resource distribution and social justice for all
21. Planned de-growth of industrial civilization
22. Global industrial civilization surviving until 2100

There was one other very important item on his list -- and Eliot had it listed in the #8 position above.

#23: Vegan diet dominates and there is a

moratorium on factory farming.

He is suggesting that it is possible that we walk completely away from animal agriculture, the leading driver of climate change. But, like everything else on the list, he says that it "ain't gonna happen."

Here's what I've got to say about that:

Animal agriculture is the leading driver of climate change and it is the ONLY primary driver that is theoretically possible to completely eliminate before 2030 -- buying us enough time to tackle the other 22 tasks on Jacobson's list.

How do we get that done? One of the problems that has held back the spread of veganism around the world is the word "vegan" itself. It is problematic for a number of reasons.

As you know, the term "vegan" primarily suggests what a person does NOT eat -- when what we DO eat is most important. A huge bonus here is that it's not expensive to eat a delicious, truly health-promoting diet. In fact, I have saved at least $6,000/year on food since going plant-based in 2003.

And I never describe myself as a "vegan." I have also never enjoyed eating more than I do now.

Most people identifying as "vegan" do not eat a "health-promoting" diet. They simply avoid ALL animal-based foods while eating lots of highly processed junk foods. As a result, they don't get the plethora of physical benefits that accompany an optimal diet.

They also have trouble ordering food when they go out with other people -- as there is typically only ONE "vegan" item on the menu. Hence, most "vegans" are apparently going back to their old way of eating.

To that point, I actually discovered a disturbing factoid on that topic last year. Startling info:

"Even though there are more vegans than

ever before in the USA -- there are now more

ex-vegans in the USA than there are vegans."

That factoid doesn't bode well for a massive global shift away from eating animal-based foods. What we need is a more attractive way to describe a tasty, attractive, disease-reversing way of eating. Enter 4Leaf.

There's a big difference between eating "vegan" and eating 4Leaf. "Veganism" is all about what you "can't eat" and 4Leaf is all about what you DO eat. And the options are endless.

My assessment is this: once a person goes 4Leaf for a year or so, it is VERY unlikely that they will EVER go back to eating the Standard American Diet that is killing us and the planet.

Eating at the 4Leaf level simply means that one is deriving over 80% of their calories from whole, plant-based foods -- and those are the kinds of foods that promote health while reversing chronic diseases.

Click here for a printer-friendly, one-pager entitled

4Leaf Chart for the Fridge.

To make it real easy for you to quickly learn how to eat at the 4Leaf level, we're now offering the e-copy of the 4Leaf Guide for FREE to international public. Just click here or on the book cover below:

And yes, a massive shift toward eating primarily plant-based foods would make a huge difference. For example, I have been using this little factoid for twenty years -- about how a massive move toward plant-based eating, driven by individual choice -- could make a huge difference in the sustainability of our biosphere going forward:

On a per calories basis, animal-based foods require over TEN TIMES as much land, water and energy as do plant-based foods.

TEN TIMES!

A little background. Twenty years ago, after doing my own research on the topic for six months, I concluded in May of 2003 that we humans are simply eating the wrong food for our species.

Ten years later, I summarized what we should be eating in this 5-minute video that any high school student could understand. It's really simple, as the animal in the wild, whose DNA is closest to ours -- the great gorilla, eats nothing but whole plants, along with a few insects that might be residing on those plants.

This short video was recorded ten years ago in my home office in Stonington, Connecticut -- two years before Dr. Kerry Graff and I wrote the 4Leaf Guide in 2015.

Since recording that video, I have spent the better part of the next decade doing my best to promote a widespread shift away from eating all animal-based foods -- and toward eating the foods that nature intended for us to eat.

But, what about when there were no plants to eat? Of course, there have been many times -- during the 300,000 years of humans on this planet -- when there were simply no plant-based foods available. So, in those areas of the world, we simply ate what we could find and kill. We survived.

That was then, and this is now. As we begin 2024, there are few excuses for us not eating the dietary plan that nature designed for ALL humans.

There are three primary reasons why we should be deriving over 80% of our calories from whole, plant-based foods:

• #1. Whole, plant-based foods are great for our health, even reversing many chronic diseases.
• #2. Whole, plant-based foods cost less money. In my own case, I can eat very well in Connecticut for less than $300 per month -- and that includes a few restaurant meals.
• #3. Most importantly, whole, plant-based foods (instead of animal-based foods) are crucially important for the biosphere that keeps us alive, affecting many crucial situations -- like climate change, biodiversity loss, water scarcity and more.

So how do we facilitate a rapid shift from animal-based foods to Earth-friendly and "health promoting" plant-based foods?

Can we get it done in time? Or have we already passed the point of no return?

Over the past few years, my colleagues and I have concluded that our best chance for promoting a worldwide shift in the direction of plant-based eating -- may very well begin with a handful of well-known, trusted and respected journalists who have the courage to speak the truth about dietary choices.

They can do that by taking this story directly to the people of the world. Every day, every hour, non-stop coverage until we get this problem solved. We simply need to keep broadcasting the truth!

Of course, no matter how we choose to tackle this issue, there will be lots of violent opposition and pushback from all of the entities who benefit from the continuation of humanity eating the WRONG food for our species.

But that doesn't mean we shouldn't give it our best shot. For the billions of innocent children, we simply must get this done.

Here is my proposition for getting this done!

If the seven well-known journalists pictured below -- were to become fully-informed about what's at stake, along with the simplicity, health benefits and cost reductions that accompany plant-based eating -- they would want to tell that story every day for the rest of their lives.

And they would inspire other courageous journalists to follow them. They must! The stakes of this game are just too daunting to ignore. And we've only got a few years to get this right.

Below this picture of seven prominent news anchors is a link to a plausible game-plan that I, and a few of my colleagues, believe will work. I published that game-plan about a month ago -- and I will keep promoting it until we get it done.

The seven anchors pictured below are just a few, among scores of well-known journalists, who could get the ball rolling on the most important public awareness campaign in the history of humanity.

My New Year's wish is that there will soon be hundreds more concerned journalists who will join them.

How do we get started?

Once this group learns the complete truth about the only pragmatic way to possibly reverse climate change, they will be unable to unlearn that potential, civilization-saving truth.

How are we going to make that happen? That's covered in this recent SOS Memo.

SOS #245 (11-28-23)

Game Plan for Reversing Climate Change.

The opening question in SOS Memo #245 is this...

What would happen if the global media were to become aware of the simple fact that animal agriculture is, by far, the leading driver of climate change and the ONLY driver that is theoretically possible to completely eliminate by 2030? 

At zero cost! It also comes with a powerful fringe benefit. As people begin consuming mostly whole, plant-based foods, most chronic diseases will be reversed -- and the world's cost of healthcare can be slashed by over 50%.

Most Importantly. The beauty of this approach is that we don't have to deal with the world's food growers and manufacturers, the world's self-serving, global healthcare Industry, the many self-serving governments and international alliances (UN, UNFAO) or all the academic parties who are supported by the animal food producers.

Individual food choices alone -- all over the world -- can make this happen. If enough people shift to plant-based eating, the food producers, for financial reasons, will respond quickly -- and start producing what the consumers choose to eat. And, we would have started a rapid dismantling of what is BY FAR -- the single largest driver of climate change.

It's simply what we choose to eat. Let's just do it, already!

Finally, just to put things into perspective, I want to share this latest photo (on Thanksgiving Day) of my oldest and youngest granddaughters: Peyton, who just graduated from Champlain College -- and Sofia. Are they not beautiful?

For billions of innocent children...let's all work urgently together to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.

Sincerely, Jim

J. Morris Hicks — hpjmh.com

500 Bank Street, Suite 215

New London, CT 06320

jmorrishicks@me.com 

PS: How can YOU make a difference?

1st: Become a healthy vegan -- making sure that over 80% of your calories are derived from whole, plant-based foods. As such, you will be doing your part in dismantling the leading driver of climate change: global animal agriculture. As a personal bonus, you will get healthier, eliminate most prescription drugs, lose weight and save money at the same time.

• Want some help with this one? My friends at Rochester Lifestyle Medicine Institute provide a 15-Day Whole Food, Plant-Based Jumpstart program to get you started on your journey to better health while you protect our planet! Please use this link to get more information about Jumpstart and sign up!

2nd: Start "walking the talk" of sustainable living. Let your actions do the talking for your friends and family. My thoughts on that process are in my updated SOS Memo #200 from earlier this year.

3rd: Check out the FREE stuff in the appendix below and start sharing all of this info with your friends & family.

4th: Schedule a FREE Zoom call with me and your group. Contact me at jmorrishicks@me.com to arrange.

In the APPENDIX below, you can read about what we must do to understand much more about the climate dilemma in which we find ourselves -- along with what it will likely take to prevent a collapse of civilization.

This appendix can help you get that done:

Appendix to SOS Memos

(lots of data, FREE books, scientific reports, videos & more)

You can join my mailing list and find all of my previous postings by visiting the SOS Memos page on my website. 

Again, my primary website is hpjmh.com -- featuring a powerful summary that appears on the landing page. Click the link below for my one-page bio summary:

J. Morris Hicks, engineer. writer. big picture guy.

Want to get started nurturing your own health

and the health of our planet?

Take our dietary survey at 4leafsurvey.com (2 min). With your answers to 12 multiple choice questions, the survey provides an estimate as to what percent of your daily calories are being derived from whole, plant-based foods.

Over 80% from whole plants = "4Leaf Level" of eating

(The average American or European gets less than 7%)

Click to learn all about this dietary assessment tool:

About the 4Leaf Survey

For much more about 4Leaf, visit 4leafprogram.com

Also: Link to the FREE e-copy of the The 4Leaf Guide