Currents

We know more about animal emotions then we often admit, and we can no longer ignore the pain and suffering of other beings. Many people in higher education are faced with difficult questions about the use of animals in their classrooms and research laboratories and we must accept that there are compelling reasons stemming from scientific research to limit and perhaps stop using animals in lieu of the numerous highly effective non-animal alternatives that are readily available.

Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement retail chain, announced last week that it will soon label thousands of items in its U.S. stores as "Eco Options," or environmentally friendly, to help consumers concerned about their ecological footprints.

Tens of thousands of Americans participated in the nationwide Step It Up 2007 rally on April 14 to draw attention to the issue of global warming and to urge Congress to take strong action to curb the emission of greenhouse gases. The campaign’s mantra: get Congress to cut emissions of the chief greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, 80 percent by 2050.

Grand Lake, in the Colorado Rockies, lies in the path of an assault on forests across much of the western U.S. and Canada. As a result of drought, warmer temperatures and an abundance of mature growth, the trees that carpet the slopes over millions of acres are falling victim to unprecedented levels of infestation by the mountain pine beetle.

Following a 2005 Congressional mandate, the federal government has finally implemented an increase in the percentage of renewable fuels consumed by vehicles on America’s roadways. The new standards, announced by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Stephen Johnson last week, require 4.02 percent of all motor fuel—or about 4.7 billion gallons—sold in the U.S. in 2007 to come from renewable sources, primarily agricultural crops.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has been overwhelmed by the response to the federal proposal to list the polar bear as an endangered species. Last Monday marked the end of a 90-day public comment period on the issue, and more than 500,000 Americans chimed in—almost double the number of responses on any previous species listing proposal. The vast majority of comments were in favor of affording protection to America’s beleaguered northern white bear.

SUVs fill the highways, e-waste clogs the landfills, and energy consumption is at record levels. Legislation protecting our air, land and water have been under threat by a pro-industry Bush administration. As the Al Gore-tutorial-documentary An Inconvenient Truth so poignantly warned the world: climate change is an imminent threat for which we are all responsible. To put it simply: the Earth is in crisis and Earth Day (April 22) has taken on huge global significance. It is needed to spur grassroots activism as it did in its first year, inspiring people not only to make changes in their own lifestyles, but to join with others to create an effective movement that can push through legislation and insist on strict environmental standards.

In the struggling industrial city of Brockton, Massachusetts, city officials have opened a tiny utility-scale solar electricity plant on the four-acre site of an abandoned gas plant. The rows of solar photovoltaic panels began generating an average of 425 kilowatts to the grid in September 2006, turning a vacant lot of capped coal-tar residues into the largest utility-scale solar PV facility in the U.S.

Several innovative programs have been launched to find a balance between the bulldozer of growth and preserving environmental and cultural treasures in the Sonoran Desert which straddles the border between southern Arizona and northwestern Mexico. “Geotourism” is the new catch phrase which involves protecting the environment while honoring local people and their customs.

In Baja alone, an estimated 35,000 turtles die in the hands of poachers annually, speared, harvested with long gillnets or caught by hand…