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THE BUNNY CHIP
August 2005

The drug industry could slash its costs, and spare millions of furry creatures, with a chip that mimics a living organism. Drug researchers must hack their way through tens of thousands of chemical candidates to find one blockbuster drug. Every toxic or ineffective molecule they rule out brings them closer to their goal; but it takes, on average, $800 million and 14 years to develop a drug and win Food & Drug Administration approval. Regrettably, some 30 million rabbits, mice and other creatures are sacrificed each year for pharma's sake.

"Drug development is a very inefficient process," says Gregory Baxter, a molecular biologist and cofounder of Hurel Corp. in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Baxter thinks he can save drug companies tens of millions of dollars and six months or more of delay - not to mention spare them the ire of animal lovers - with his company's curious product, the Hurel. Part silicon, part animal, the Hurel is a microchiplike wafer with several chambers lined with live mammalian cells from the liver, heart, lungs or other organ systems (extracted either from animals or from lab-grown cell lines). An external pump moves a candidate drug molecule through the Hurel's compartments, which are connected by a network of channels as narrow as 20 micrometers.

HISTORIC SHIFT IN SENATE ON GLOBAL WARMING!
June 26, 2005

An historic shift in the debate over climate change occurred last week on the floor of the U.S. Senate. While the Senate did not take the strong, concrete action needed to curb greenhouse gases that are contributing to global warming, it passed the first significant legislation to acknowledge man is contributing to climate change and must take action. In passing this legislation, the Senate showed that the debate had shifted from whether we should take action on climate change to what specific action should be taken. And it shifted because more and more Republicans have come to realize this problem is not some figment of a scientist's imagination.

One of the strongest leaders in the move to take action on climate change is Sen. John McCain, Republican of Arizona, who sponsored with Sen. Joseph Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, one of the better pieces of legislation on the issue. Although the McCain-Lieberman bill to cut global emissions using a market-based system was not approved, the ideas that it presents strongly influenced the legislation that did pass. And senators who had formerly refused to take the issue of global warming seriously supported the successful legislation to call for reductions in some emissions and greater spending to promote technology to help reduce harmful emissions.

The legislation that passed, sponsored by Sen. Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, also directs the secretary of energy to adopt a "national climate change strategy." And it authorizes the secretary of state to help developing nations use technologies that reduce or minimize carbon dioxide emissions. This bipartisan consensus to take national action on climate change is growing despite President George W. Bush's lack of leadership on an issue that affects everything from food security, to human health, to coastal storms to national security.

The senators are reacting to the growing body of science which documents the current effects and forecasts future effects of climate warming. They are also reacting to a call from some segments of industry for action on global warming. As Europe adopts Kyoto reductions and cap and trade policies, international companies with branches in the U.S. and Europe have sought parallel emissions policies in the United States. The senators are also following the lead of a number of states, including Massachusetts and California, that have developed more concrete strategies to reduce harmful emissions. The Senate climate change legislation faces a more hostile environment in the House of Representatives where the Republican majority has adopted a more status-quo approach and is endorsing energy legislation that promotes the growth of fossil-fuel energy such as gas, oil and coal. But the Senate's actions are strong evidence that the public - much more concerned about climate change than leaders - is finally being heard. With the upcoming mid-term elections, the voters will have another chance to let members of the House and Senate know that a proactive climate change policy can be good for the climate as well as the nation's economy.

Tokyo's Clean Air Policy Found To Be Paying Off
June 28, 2005 — By The Yomiuri Shimbun
Regulations governing diesel exhaust emissions have reduced air pollution in Tokyo significantly, according to a Tokyo metropolitan government survey. The level of suspended particulate matter cleared the national environmental standard at 97 percent of checkpoints in fiscal 2004. This is a drastic improvement from the previous fiscal year, when SPM levels made the standard at only 12 percent of checkpoints. The figure also surpassed the national average of 77 percent in fiscal 2003.

The latest results show Tokyo's air attained the level considered clean for the first time since fiscal 1984, when the metropolitan government began measuring SPM. SPM is emitted by diesel-powered vehicles and is thought to be a cause of asthma, lung cancer and hay fever. The metropolitan government measures particulate levels at 34 checkpoints located along national highways and crossings and announces at how many of these sites the figure clears the national standard, which is a maximum of 0.1 milligram per cubic meter of air.

Ways we can help NOW!
How about dry cleaning? - Most dry cleaning solvents are toxic — including chlorine and formaldehyde which are highly toxic and carcinogenic. These chemicals can often remain in your clothes even after you bring them home. Try to buy clothes that you can wash rather than dry clean. Many of the clothes that are ‘dry clean only’ are actually washable by hand with soap and cold water or can just be pressed or ironed. If the item can’t be washed by hand, call around for a cleaning service that practices wet cleaning. Wet cleaning uses heat, steam, vacuum, water and natural soaps to clean your clothes. Wet cleaning also emphasizes skilled labourers who inspect and clean each item of clothing individually.

What's a few good tips to change my lifestyle? - Eat lower on the food chain — fruit and vegetable production requires far less energy than meat production. If you do eat meat, buy free-range, organically raised meat and poultry products. These have been raised humanely and on untreated feeds. Grow your own vegetables, fruits and herbs without using pesticides. Eating organically grown fruits and vegetables doesn’t just reduce the amount of pesticides getting released into the environment, it’s also more healthy for you, the farmers and food handlers. Just look for the “certified organic” label. Eat local fruits and vegetables which are fresher and less likely to be waxed. Also, some imported produce may have been treated with pesticides and chemicals that have been banned in Canada and the U.S. Cut excess fat off of meat and poultry and avoid high fat dairy products. Many chemicals released into the environment are stored in fat tissue and are cumulative. Avoid storing food in plastic. Use reusable glass containers for storing food in the refrigerator, but be careful, not all glass containers can be frozen. If you use plastic for storage, use containers specifically designed for this. Never microwave food in a plastic container. Even plastics that are approved for food storage and are ‘microwavable’ may leech chemicals into your food when heated. If you must use plastic wrap, do not let it come in direct contact with your food and make sure that it is not made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC or vinyl).

Greenpeace Cleared - May 20, 2004
A U.S. judge acquitted environmental protection group Greenpeace Wednesday on charges it conspired to break the law by sending activists aboard a freighter carrying illegally felled mahogany two years ago.

UN Agency Helps Launch Campaign to Clean Up World's Seas - May 17, 2004
With 80 per cent of ocean pollution coming from land-based activities and half the coasts - home to 1 billion people - already threatened by development activity, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today took part in the launch of a new campaign to clean up the seas by ensuring that people have access to toilets and safe drinking water.

Peregrine Falcons
Listed as Endangered, the Peregrine falcon population has started to increase in response to reintroduction and habitat protection, as well as the elimination of other threats such as pesticide use. The original range of this species of bird, known best for its beauty and sharp hunting skills, included most of New England. Today, only a handful of breeding pairs are known to exist, including some new pairs in and around New York City.

Channel Islands
In October 2002, after four years of negotiations and a powerful show of support from BioGems Defenders (who sent more than 30,000 messages), the California Fish and Game Commission voted to establish a series of marine reserves designed to protect the spectacular underwater ecosystem surrounding the Channel Islands.

Beginning in 2003, fishing will be prohibited in the 12 reserves, which will cover 175 square miles, or about 19 percent of the state waters around the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. The sanctuary's waters have been off-limits to oil and gas drilling for more than two decades, but overfishing continued to deplete underwater populations. The fishing ban will allow once-abundant species - including white abalone, Pacific red snapper and angel sharks - to rebound.

In the coming months and years wildlife defenders will work to expand the reserves into the area's federal waters, and to use this victory as a springboard to creating additional reserves along the California coast and in other critical coastal habitat areas.

There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

Talamanca Coast
In early May 2002, following months of pressure from Costa Ricans and more than 27,000 letters from BioGems Defenders (like Many Ponies!), the Costa Rican government rejected a plan by Harken Energy of Texas and MKJ Xplorations of Louisiana to drill for oil off the country's Caribbean coast. The Talamanca region of Costa Rica is a lush tangle of tropical forests, mangrove swamps, white-sand beaches and magnificent coral reefs; its waters are home to manatees, rare Tucuxi dolphins and endangered leatherback, hawksbill and green sea turtles. Oil drilling off Talamanca would have spelled disaster for local fisheries, marine animals, and the area’s fledging ecotourism industry.

Purrs to Germany for granting to animals in its Constitution the same rights to respect and protection as humans enjoy, opening up the possibility of lawsuits against fur farms, laboratories and factory farms. Following PETA’s decade-long campaign in conjunction with Germany’s Green Party, lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favor of the change.

Christmas Tree Turned into Toys for Animals
by Verena Dobnik, Associated Press Writer - Posted on January 13, 2003

The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree reappeared on Saturday — transformed into toys for polar bears, otters, monkeys and other creatures in Central Park in New York City. At the park zoo just off Fifth Avenue, Gus the bear nuzzled giant slices of the trunk of the 76-foot Norway spruce, licking peanut butter that had been stuffed into drilled holes. The otters foraged for small fish hidden in pieces of hollowed-out trunk. And the Japanese snow monkeys picked at apples and oranges hanging from an arching branch of the tree.

About half of the Rockefeller Center tree was recycled at a New Jersey sawmill and turned into "enrichment toys," as zookeepers call sensory-stimulating toys that keep their animals mentally and physically fit in captivity. "We're here to celebrate a late Christmas for the creatures," said Chris Kratt, who with his brother Martin hosts the PBS children's nature series Kratt's Creatures and Zoboomafoo. A segment on the tree toys will air on Monday on the National Geographic Channel, which helped pay for the project. Channel spokesman Russell Howard said enrichment toys are "the hottest trend at zoos across the country."

Zoos from San Diego to Boston to the Bronx have introduced enrichment toys to their animals — everything from plastic ice cube trays, animal-sound tapes and kiddie pools to catnip, old perfume and herbal vinegar. Many zoos solicit donations of the items or have programs for volunteers to craft the toys. The highly regarded San Diego Zoo makes the "enrichment" experience more of a challenge. Foods are frozen inside ice blocks, nuts and raisins are scattered in hay, cinnamon-scented sticks draw a crowd of Galapagos tortoises, and a trail of musky scent in the grass gives tigers something to track. "Animals need to be stimulated, as they are in the wild," Chris Kratt said. "And these toys are designed to stimulate. A new smell! Something that feels different!"

God put animals here for us to use; the Bible gives us dominion over animals, right?

Wrong. Dominion is not the same as tyranny. The queen of England has "dominion" over her subjects, but that doesn’t mean she can eat them, wear them, or experiment on them. If we have dominion over animals, surely it is to protect them, not to abuse them for our own ends. There is nothing in the Bible that would justify our modern-day policies that desecrate the environment, destroy entire species of wildlife, and inflict torment and death on billions of animals every year. The Bible imparts a reverence for life; a loving God could not help but be appalled at the way His creatures are being treated. For more information, please visit JesusVeg.com.

The Truck Stops There - (17 Jan 03) In a setback for the Bush administration, a federal appeals court yesterday halted a federal plan to permit thousands of Mexican trucks on U.S. roads, calling instead for environmental reviews that could take up to three years. In November, President Bush approved the entry of 30,000 Mexican trucks per year, citing obligations under the North American Free Trade Agreement to lift trade barriers. A coalition of environmentalists, Teamsters, and U.S. trucking companies responded by filing suit, claiming the trucks would not meet U.S. emissions standards. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the plaintiffs, saying that compliance with NAFTA "cannot come at the cost of violating United States law."