We know and we care less?

Environmentalists, unite!.

...Except, a recent study showed that Americans have become less likely to say that they care about the current and future state of the environment. Leading on that, as consumers, we're also less likely to buy organic, all-natural or eco-friendly products. The excuse usually is, "But it's too expensive!"

Well, is the difference of a couple of bucks worth the future of your home?

A Harris Poll was conducted that showed these results. Similar "green attitude" polls have been conducted every year since 2009 and it seems, that in those few short years, we have lost our eco-consciousness.

The results showed that 27% of Americans described themselves as "environmentally-conscious" in 2012, and only 31% say they "care a great deal about the current state, and future, of the environment." The numbers in 2009, showed 30% of Americans as "environmentally-conscious" and 36% as caring about the future. In 2009, 43% of Americans said they cared about the plane they're leaving behind for future generations--the number has dropped to a scary 34%.

Americans now also say they're less likely to reuse things, make an effort to use less water, buy food in bulk and to purchase all-natural or organic products.

While it is true that money is always the biggest deciding factor in these choices, it is also true that it is worrying to think that we live in a society that is not afraid to waste away a planet and leave behind acid rain, increasing temperatures, severe pollution that will cause an innumerable amount of diseases--the list goes on; for their children.

So, really, what has changed from 2009 to 2012? Compared to the 2009 market, today's market contains many more eco-friendly products and tips. It has never been easier to take the small steps to be environmentally-conscious: Turn off the water when you're brushing your teeth. Turn off the lights when you leave a room. Unplug electronics and wires when you're not using them. Use reusable bags. Buy a permanent water bottle. Buy all-natural, organic foods. These are not big life changes--they are, and always have been, small changes to your everyday lifestyle.

So why don't we care anymore? As teenagers, this is the planet we will inherit, good or bad. We can't always think of an escape or an alternative Earth--we are here for a reason, and we haven't found life elsewhere--that indicates something. Should we not try to take the steps to protect ourselves, to protect this planet--because it means our survival?

If we don't care, who will?

A Coal-Free Chicago?

Chicago has been seeing a lot of activity with the closing down of several coal plants. Late in February, Midwest Generation agreed to shut down two aging coal-fired power plants. The city's mayor, Rahm Emanuel, pressured the company to shut down after they were linked to sever lung problems among citizens.

Similarly, GenOn Energy says it will close eight coal plants in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey rather than installing pollution controls.

This movement could have a strong connection to the increase in the U.S.'s oil and natural gas industry. Recently, an article in the NY Times foretold the U.S. is moving toward energy independence from foreign sources. Over the past couple of years, the U.S. has gone from importing 60% of its oil in 2005 to 45% in 2011.

The energy independence movement has been seen by the increase in oil rigging and drilling--situations such as the BP oil spill and several oil rigs have been evidence of this.

Of course, the down side to this is the effect on the environment. The process used for extracting oil and natural gas, called hydraulic fracturing or fracking, causes a lot of damage to the surrounding landscape and has been shown to cause alarmingly detriment to to rare and endangered species in the area.

Eco-tip: water bottle caps aren't recycled--often, they are thrown away into landfills or disposed of improperly. Start recycling your water bottle caps and check out Caps Can Do, a company that recycles these caps into new equipment.

James Cameron's Deep Sea Adventure

Earlier this month, James Cameron announced his plans to go on the first human dive in 52 years to the ocean's deepest spot, a place nearly seven miles down in the western Pacific.

He has recently just returned and reports no sea monsters, no giant squids and no strange life. Just tiny amphipods--tiny shrimp-like creatures floating across a featureless dark emptiness.

“It was very lunar, a very desolate place,” James Cameron said, upon his return on Monday to a news conference. He says that while "we'd all like to think there are giant squid and sea monsters down there" this trip, he saw nothing larger than an inch across.

However, this will not stop him as he says it is only the beginning. The area he is looking to explore is 50 times larger than the Grand Canyon.

National Geographic, which sponsored the trip, reported that Cameron began his dive on Sunday at 3:15 p.m., landed on the bottom at 5:52 p.m. and was back at the surface at 10 p.m.

“You’re in total darkness for most of the dive,” Mr. Cameron said. “It’s a completely alien world.”

Green Teen: Noise Pollution and the BP Oil Spill

Noise pollution is affecting our forests. A few years ago, it was discovered that in areas where there was a lot of human-made noise, a species of hummingbird would increase in population, while another species of jay would decrease in population.

These same researchers have found where human-made noise is heavy, there will be more flowers but fewer trees.

According to Clinton D. Francis, an evolutionary ecologist at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, this is a domino effect. The pine trees that were seen less and less relied upon the scrub jays to spread their seeds. The black-chinned hummingbird specifically searches out areas where there is a lot of noise and no jays because these birds eat their eggs and nestlings.

On another note, bringing back the BP Oil Spill that happened April 2010, scientists say they have definitively linked damage to deep-sea corals in the Gulf to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill. This coral community that was once vibrant with rich hues is now dull and brown, and according to scientists, it's because of the oil spill. The oil found on the corals matched the oil that was spilled back in April 2010, turning half a football field of corals into a graveyard.

Killer Whale Enslavement Law Suit

You are meant to be free, to roam the earth. You are meant to travel freely from China to the Cape of Good Hope with your kin. You are meant to live a carefree life, with nothing but hunting the oceans for your prey and swimming along the family that has been beside you since you were born.

But you are captured, enslaved. You are forced to live in a small tub, a fish bowl. These humans make you jump in the air, twirl, carry them, jump through hoops and feed you small pieces of fish as "reward."

You are a killer whale. You are meant to be king of the seas, but you are reduced to nothing, to a circus clown, existing to perform tricks and live a miserable existence in a tiny space without any contact from your own kind.

We've all seen the Shamu shows at SeaWorld. Everyone "ooh's" and "ahh's" at the wonderful trick this giant beast can perform. Look, the whale can splash us with water and swim around a tiny tank because that's what it's born to do, right?

Wrong. And that's what PETA has filed a lawsuit against in October. The lawsuit will witness the faceoff between the Lawyers for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals against the SeaWorld lawyers. According to the animal rights group, they are basing the case off the fact that the five killer whales are being held in slavery or involuntary servitude in violation of the 13th amendment of the Constitution.

SeaWorld is calling this lawsuit a "baseless publicity stunt by PETA" which is known for being inappropriate and extreme. However, this is one thing many people all around the world can agree with: keeping these giants in tiny tubs for their existence benefits no one but the people making the money.

The big thing here is they brought in the Constitution, which has always applied to humans ("...all men are created equal..."). PETA filed a 20 page report on behalf of the five whales: Tilikum, Katina, Corky, Kasatka and Ulises. The statement released by PETA at the time contended that the constitutional protections and rights granted are not only limited to humans.

Many would beg to differ and one can see why. The Constitution is and always has been applicable to only humans (however long it may have taken to grant equal rights for all), never nonhumans and this is where PETA will face the most opposition and criticism. However, one can hope that their case does bring hope of a free future for the captive killer whales. Our very own Lolita in the Seaquarium faces this everyday.

Eco-tip: invest in a permanent water bottle, rather than using a new plastic one everyday. You save millions of tons of plastic waste as well as hundreds of dollars for yourself.

The Death of the Amazon and New Innovations

Deforestation, forest degradation and climate change could be weakening the resilience of the Amazon rainforest ecosystem. What does that mean? Well, it could potentially lead to loss of carbon storage and changes in the rainfall patterns and river discharge. All of this was a comprehensive review published in the journal Nature.

An international team of researchers looked at the effects of disturbance and climate change on how the Amazon Basin functions, based on 100 previous studies. The results showed though the Amazon was resilient to individual disturbances, multiple interacting disturbances (such as fire, logging, deforestation, fragmentation and global and regional climate change) undermines the forests' resilience.

On the other hand, there are some really cool new technologies, such as a new aquatic 'bicycle pump' called the Searaser. The Searaser takes to the seas and turn wave power into clean electricity and pumps the saltwater to an onshore generator. The green energy company Ecotricity has recently acquired this device. The prototype has been tested and praised.

"Searaser uses the rise and fall of a large float to pressurise the water" (guardian.co.uk) but unlike other wave power devices, it doesn't generate the electricity in the hostile environment of the sea--devices that do this need to completely sealed. The fact that the water and the electricity generating equipemtn never meet is amazing and is done in Japan.

Hopes are high for this new device and could significantly contribute to replacing coal and gas powers that help drive global warming so much.

Eco-tip: Try switching to re-usable cloth bags when grocery shopping. Plastic bags are rarely recycled and are extremely harmful to the environment since they do not degrade and are well known to kill, strangle and choke wildlife. Paper bags lead to massive deforestation every year.

Green Teen: 5 Ways Technology Saves Endangered Species

Society's obsession with technology has caused us to lose sight of the damage we cause on the world outside of the computer--from pollution to excessive waste to destruction of animal species due to destruction of habitat. However, here's five ways technology helps when it comes to saving endangered species:

1. Analyzing people: A new predictive analytic software by IBM analyzes people and finds areas to target conservation efforts. By doing this, they can figure out which people to target and not waste their time talking to people who have no interest in conservation.

2. "Fish & Chips": Without technology, over-fishing would not have happened in the degree that it has occurred in these past few years (look at The Cove documentary for a look on how it affects dolphins). However, Barbara Block teamed up with Monterey Bay Aquarium and they are part of an important project of tagging up bluefin tuna and tracking them down in an effort to save them from going extinct. Bluefin tuna are on the brink of extinction. The project plans to find a balance so fisheries can still get their tuna for sushi without decimating the population.

3. Robotic deer: It hasn't saved endangered species yet, but it could in the future. The idea is simple: using robotic deer to catch poachers who hunt deer outside of hunting season. If it was used for tigers (which are due for extinction in 12 years if something isn't done!) or elephants, the plan would be even more helpful towards endangered species.

4. DNA Zip Codes: Every year, 80 million or so sharks die because of a human fetish for shark fin soup. Sharks are vital to an ecosystem because they pick off the unhealthy and sick animals. The more sharks in an ecosystem, the healthier it is. It has always been impossible to track down where the shark fins come from--until now. New technology has allowed scientists to discover "zip codes" in the DNA of the shark fins; "By analyzing part of the genome that is inherited solely through the mother, we were able to detect differences between sharks living along different continents - in effect, their DNA zip codes," said Dr. Demian Chapman, leader of the research team and assistant director of science of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science. "

5. Barcoding DNA: the International Barcode of Life--iBOL, barcodes the DNA of animals across the globe to protect them from poaching or over-hunting. The project assigns a unique barcode to each individual species' DNA so that one day, anyone with a scanner can read the DNA and know exactly which species they have come across. This system can keep a watch on our food supplies and save species at the same time. Already, 87,000 species have been barcoded and 25 countries have joined in the efforts to build up the database. The project expects to have half a million species by 2015.