It seems like anywhere Mike Ness goes, he leaves his mark. As the frontman for Social Distortion, he's one of the most influential men in punk rock. As a solo artist, he's blazing a trail on the alterna-country scene. However, while Mike has made a huge impact on the music world, his impact on good ol' Mother Earth is smaller than most people's. That's because Mike knows that meat's not green and that by keeping animals off his plate he's doing the single most effective thing anyone can do to reduce his or her carbon footprint.

Mike Ness is the most recent celebrity to sit down with PETA for a "Meat's Not Green" photo shoot, and he even took the time to answer a few questions about why he's doing his part to make the world a better place. Check out his video below and then head over and check out the ad.

Written by Shawna Flavell

subwaynorcal / CC

Here's the deal: A Buffalo man is all upset that two Brooklyn entrepreneurs plan to put a slaughterhouse in the back of the building in which his Subway franchise sits. He says that the odors creeping in from the slaughterhouse would scare away his customers. We see it a bit differently.

We're the last ones who want to hide slaughterhouses where nobody will have to think about—or actually see and hear—the animals they're blithely eating, so we've written to Buffalo to say that PETA supports the creation of this slaughterhouse, with just a couple of modifications: Erect a glass wall to allow the public to see the terrified animals who are being slaughtered, install a sound system to broadcast the animals' screams, and open the facility to school and other tours with an elevated walkway running right through it.

I suspect that this could hurt business at a lot of restaurants in the Greater Buffalo area. But buck up, Subway man. What you lose in meatball and cheesesteak sub sales, you gain on the Veggie Delite sandwiches and perhaps by adding a Gardein "chicken" sub or other super-delish vegetarian alternatives!

Written by Jeff Mackey

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When you saw Kia's new commercial, "A New Way to Roll," a few questions probably popped into your head: How did they train these hamsters? How long did they make them run on those wheels? Do hamsters even like soul music?

Well, have no fear: The hamsters in this commercial are computer-generated—no vigorous training or particular taste in music necessary! That means that when this commercial comes on and the Soul car rolls in, you can rock out with the hamsters to the funky beat guilt-free. We love this ad so much that we've decided to give Kia Motors America—and its creative ad agency David&Goliath—PETA's GOODY Award. By creating an ad that takes advantage of animated animals instead of dragging real ones into the process, Kia and David&Goliath have set a progressive example for other companies to follow.

Please comment below if you've recently seen an ad that depicts animals in a positive or negative way. We'll consider it for our GOODY Award or BADDY Award (for ads that stink) faster than you can say, "CGI rules!"

Written by Liz Graffeo

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During Sunday night's episode of Celebrity Apprentice, I nearly fell off my couch when I heard Herschel Walker say that he didn't eat meat. But then it clicked … of course he's a vegetarian. Find an attractive, fit person in any room and it's a good assumption that he or she might be vegetarian. One peek in Trump's celebrity boardroom and I think we could all agree that Herschel Walker fits the bill. This Heisman trophy–winning football star is in great shape (and he even has Joan Rivers trying to set him up with her daughter).

With PETA faves Khloe Kardashian and Dennis Rodman already out the door, I was hoping that this vegetarian football hero would last until the end, but Herschel got the boot this week, with Trump professing his love, "I love you. I love you, Herschel. I love you. I'm not a gay man, but I love you. And you're fired."

Now that he's got free time on his hands, we're hoping we can ask Herschel for a vegetarian testimonial!

Written by Christine Doré

sportsillustrated.cnn / CC

As a lifelong vegetarian, Jake Shields is no stranger to sticking up for the little guys. Maybe that's why the XC welterweight champion agreed to appear in a recent episode of MTV's Bully Beatdown, a show that puts teenage bullies in the ring with professional fighters to give them a taste of how miserable it feels to be the underdog.

In an interview with our friends at The Discerning Brute, Jake said, "Well I'm a life-long vegetarian and the diet obviously works. I also have two brothers that are strong and healthy. But you do have to have a good balanced diet and eat healthy foods. There's plenty of ways to get protein other than eating meat."

Awesome athletes like Jake and his fellow fighter Mac Danzig are evidence that not only is a vegetarian diet a possible diet for athletes, it might even be the best diet.

Written by Amanda Schinke

Thanks for all of your wonderful comments on this Win It Wednesday. The winners of the PETA Grocery Tote are Mariah Lacey, Joel A., and Alyson Paige Warren. Congratulations!

"Win It" Wednesday is coming a day early this week!

One of my favorite things about spring is getting to walk around outside without a jacket. The sun is out, there's a gentle breeze, and the birds are chirping their hearts out. What better time to leave the car at home and stroll to the grocery store? You can save money on gas, conserve our limited resources, and enjoy the weather while getting a little exercise.

As long as we're talking groceries, did you know that the easiest and most effective thing you can do to help save the world is to go vegetarian? What's the second easiest thing? Stuffing all your yummy fruits and veggies into PETA's canvas grocery tote, of course! So, in honor of "Meat's Not Green" Week, we're giving you the chance to win one free!

How do you win? Just tell us what steps you're taking to show the world that meat's not green! Whether it's passing out leaflets, talking to friends, or petitioning your school for vegetarian options, every bit helps. The three most creative comments will win our stylish and eco-friendly PETA grocery tote.

The contest ends on May 6, 2009, and we'll choose three winners on May 8, 2009. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting. Check back every Wednesday for new prizes. Good luck!

Written by Lianne Turner

When we heard about New York Governor David Paterson's proposed excise ("sin") tax on full-calorie soda, we were confused. Sure, there are calories to be had in the all-American high fructose corn syrup, caramel coloring, and artificial flavoring cocktail, but does it compare to, say, meat?

To help set Gov. Paterson straight, we're sending out some of our ridiculously cute "Tax Meat" pigs to the Governor's pad today to help him consider some other products to place on his naughty list this year. The politically active pigs will circle the Governor's home in a convertible with signs reading, "Battle the Budget and the Bulge: Tax Meat."

After all, a can of fizzy goodness with more grams of sugar than I care to consider may be linked to obesity, but eating meat is linked not only to obesity but also to strokes, diabetes, heart disease, and several types of cancer, among other conditions and ailments. And with the financial outlook as bleak as it is, nobody needs the added burden of long-term medical treatment for costly conditions caused by risky dietary choices such as eating meat, when they could bank on their health by going vegetarian instead.

Written by Sean Conner

We’re going full steam ahead with our efforts to permanently ban horse-drawn carriage rides in New York, and the latest high profile New Yorker to sign on to the campaign is Lea Michele, the beautiful star of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, Spring Awakening. Here’s what she said about her decision to do this ad on behalf of New York’s carriage horses:

Thank you, Lea! I’ve posted the new ad below, and you can learn more about the campaign here.

Well, about 500 or so comments later, the thread on this post about the recent Kentucky Derby horror is still going strong. It’s clear that this issue has deeply affected a lot of people—and hopefully, all this emotion about Eight Belles’ tragedy will result in some actual reforms that will give at least some degree of protection to the horses who are abused by this industry.

I don’t usually make a point of singling out certain comments on this blog, but there were enough people who made statements along the lines of “But horses are born to race. That’s what they love,” or, like, “They’re treated better than most humans,” that I figured it was worth pointing out a few more things about the horseracing industry, which, like any industry which depends on animal domination and exploitation, will try to get away with any abusive or neglectful practice that might make them an extra dime. And the real victims—Eight Belles and the thousands of less famous horses who died under similar circumstances or else were shipped off to Europe for human consumption—live miserable lives and die painful deaths.

Here are a few key points about how this works, and there’s lots more info on this horseracing factsheet:

1. Nobody “loves to run” when they’re suffering from bleeding lungs or painful leg injuries, but that doesn’t stop trainers from pumping these animals full of drugs to mask the pain, enhance their performance and just plain keep them going. We are getting calls and faxes about all kinds of cocktail mixes that "are common knowledge in the back stretch." Sometimes people are caught and suspended when they’re careless—as was the case with this veterinarian who got busted for injecting cobra venom into a horse as a nerve blocking agent. For real.
2. Why was Eight Belles so fragile? Well, horses begin training when their skeletal systems are still growing, and they’re completely unable to deal with pounding their limbs into jelly on a hard track at high speeds. Don't tell me that all those people who "really know about horses" didn't have an inkling that this filly - a filly, no less - was a high risk for serious injuries like the ones she sustained. But she was raced anyway. Any gue$$es as to why?
3. As I mentioned before, horses that don’t make the cut get shipped off to slaughterhouses. The fact that anybody who knows this would still have the gall to comment on this blog saying that these animals are “treated better than most humans” is just too depressing to even think about.

For better or for worse, Eight Belles is now a very public representative of an industry that’s rotten to its rotten core. My only hope is that people will keep looking deeper into the way these horses are treated. And don’t dare try and tell me that they like it.

I’m actually going to leave this in the capable hands of the good folks at Deadspin. Best title for an article ever. Check it out.