Female Panama spider monkey at the Caña Blanca wildlife sanctuary on the Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica. This individual had been illegally kept as a pet before being confiscated and sent to the sanctuary, and had spent her whole life on a short leash; because of this, she would panic whenever she was let off the leash and had to be kept on a 40-foot tether. (photo: Steven G. Johnson)

In Scientific American David Biello claims his morning coffee is killing the black-handed spider monkey.

The article (click thru) is a little hard to digest. Partly the writing. And a lot of the information covers old ground. But the fact that mindless consumption has consequences bears repeating. To wit, some of the comments from the very people of which Biello speaks who resent someone inferring they should take responsibility for their cravings.

From: Gatnos
“C’mon David, admit it – your making most of this up. Not a single scientific study was cited. Using emotionally charged words like “holocaust” and throwing around factoids as if they were real facts without supporting evidence. What is your point? Do you want Americans to stop using coffee? Do you have beef with Starbucks? I also saw cocoa mentioned as an evil crop. Just try to take chocolate away from the roughly 159,000,000 American females. Yes, you are right; humanity is selfishly using the world resources at the expense of other species, but you have a hard case to sell if you want us to get upset over fungi and microbes. The United States has taken great strides to be responsible conservationists (not environmentalists), the fact that the rest of the world has not; is not the fault of us the consumer. The blame lies squarely on the shoulders of those who are willing to destroy their property and natural resources for these cash crops. Stop with the guilt trips already and write something scientific.”

From: N a g n o s t i c
“So much verbiage over one stupid animal. Big deal if it goes extinct. Coffee helps people live longer, and staves off Alzheimer’s. Screw the monkeys.”

From: geojellyroll
“This article is a hodgepodge that meanders so many disciplines it’s akin to religion….sounds like it has some ‘meaning’ but is based on ‘nothing’. As a high school paper it might get a B-…as a paper on a science site it earnsd a big ‘F’. ‘Fellow travelers on the planet’…please!!!! This is not a beauty pageant site.”

From: priddseren
“I do enjoy environmentalists who can toss out a ridiculous statistic and then say except not counting this or that. Here is is the claim extinction is happening at 100 times faster than any other time except the 5 great mass extinctions don’t count. Well of course they don’t count because if you did count them the statistic would be extinction is happening at a slower rate than any time in history. But as if I would expect anything else. This author also drinks the warmist koolaid and the warmists leave out things like ice ages and the PETM and pretty much any other data that throws off their computer models. At least Mr. Biello is consistent in the way he uses invented statistical data to exaggerate his concerns.”