Read Morrissey’s Scathing Open Letter to Al Gore and Live Earth

Morrissey has penned an open letter to Al Gore asking that the former vice president offer a vegan-only menu at the 2015 incarnation of Live Earth. In the letter addressed to Gore and fellow Live Earth co-founder Kevin Wall, obtained exclusively by Rolling Stone, the Smiths singer, along with PETA, writes, “Serving meat and dairy products at an event to combat climate change is like selling pistols at a gun-control rally.”

“We already know that raising animals for food is a leading cause of climate change and that moving toward a vegan diet is necessary to combat climate change’s worst effects,” Morrissey writes. “Animal agriculture severely affects the world’s freshwater supply and is a major contributor to global greenhouse-gas emissions, deforestation, loss of biodiversity and air and water pollution, among many other harmful effects.”

Gore, Wall and Pharrell Williams – the latter in the role of creative director – announced that the 2015 Live Earth event would take place June 18th in a series of concerts in six continents over the course of 24 hours. Dubbed “Live Earth Road to Paris,” the fest marks the beginning of a yearlong campaign to “shine a global spotlight” before this year’s United Nation climate change conference in Paris. The event promises to feature over 100 artists, though no talent has been announced yet.

Morrissey, who cemented his view of carnivores with the Smiths album title Meat Is Murder, threatened to cancel a February 2013 performance at Los Angeles’ Staples Center because the venue housed vendors – including McDonalds – that offered meat products. While the Staples Center didn’t go entirely meat-free, Morrissey agreed to perform after the venue closed all McDonalds outlets as well as expanded their vegetarian options. (In his open letter to Gore, Morrissey also boasts that his June concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden will also be entirely meat-free, though a spokesperson for the venue did not immediately reply to a request for confirmation.)

“If you choose to serve animal flesh at Live Earth, you’ll be making a mockery of the very concept of the event, in which case it should be renamed “Dead Earth: We Contributed!,” Morrissey says in conclusion. “Don’t be a denier of the causes of climate change. You know the facts. Make the right choice.” In a press release, PETA says that Live Earth producers told them that organizers have no control over what food the venues involved serve.

Live Earth representatives did not immediately respond for a request for comment.

Read Morrissey’s entire open letter below:

Dear Mr. Gore and Mr. Wall,

I am writing to ask you to do the one thing that will do the most good for the planet and the majority of its inhabitants: not serve meat or dairy products at Live Earth 2015. I don’t mean offering a vegan option-I mean not serving animal products at all. Otherwise, the event will make no sense-it’ll be “greenwashing.” Serving meat and dairy products at an event to combat climate change is like selling pistols at a gun-control rally. Your responsibility is to alert people to a crisis, not sell out to the vendors responsible for it.

Not only is it possible for venues to provide a 100 percent meat-free menu-as is done now at every concert venue in which I perform, including Madison Square Garden, where I have a show at the end of June-it’s also a moral duty.

We already know that raising animals for food is a leading cause of climate change and that moving toward a vegan diet is necessary to combat climate change’s worst effects. Animal agriculture severely affects the world’s freshwater supply and is a major contributor to global greenhouse-gas emissions, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and air and water pollution, among many other harmful effects.

Since you can’t miss the fact that meat consumption is killing the planet-your own sponsor organization, the United Nations, states this-and since venues can and will cater vegan food for events, if you choose to serve animal flesh at Live Earth, you’ll be making a mockery of the very concept of the event, in which case it should be renamed “Dead Earth: We Contributed!”

Don’t be a denier of the causes of climate change. You know the facts. Make the right choice.

Sincerely, Morrissey