Daily Roundup: November 3, 2009

One Boycott Begins: A Senate committee’s Republicans are threatening to boycott the climate-bill vote, though the Dems have a big enough majority to advance the measure to the full Senate. The Sierra Club imagined the GOP’s top-ten excuses for not showing up, including, “They got lost hiking the Appalachian Trail” and “They had a pre-existing condition.” AP and Daily Kos

As Another Ends: African nations ended their daylong boycott of U.N. climate negotiations today; they were protesting what they considered to be inadequate efforts from developed nations. Reuters

Royals Go Vegan: For a day, anyway. Windsor Castle is going vegan for 24 hours, during which a banquet for some 200 dignitaries, including U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Archbishop Valentine Mokiwa, and other high-level officials from around the world, will be held. Ecorazzi and Telegraph

Feces = Food? The FDA is being urged to ban the feeding of chicken feces to cattle; food and consumer groups (even McDonald's!) is calling for the FDA to stop farmers from feeding 1 to 2 million tons of “poultry litter” to livestock cows each year, increasing the risk of bovine diseases. Los Angeles Times

Leatherbacks Ain’t That Tough: The Sierra Club is challenging Puerto Rico Governor Luis Fortuño's removal of the nature-reserve designation from the island's Northeast Ecological Corridor in favor of development. The corridor is one of the most important nesting grounds for the critically endangered leatherback sea turtles. Sierra Club
 
--Avital Binshtock