April 13, 2000

Silent but deadly no more

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Looking for a way to reduce global warming? Don’t waste your time with carpooling schemes, mass transit, or electric vehicles. REUTERS reports that scientists in Scotland (they seem to have a lot of time on their hands) have come up with a way to deal with the sneakiest brand of polluters: sheep and cattle. Farm animals suffering from the social embarrassment of gas contribute significant amounts of methane — a greenhouse gas — to the atmosphere. The Scots discovered that adding just the right type of bacteria to livestock feed can cut emissions at the, um, tailpipe by 50 percent. The bug changes digestion so that methane is converted to carbon dioxide, which is less harmful to the atmosphere.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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