This Year's Theme: Protect Our Species.

• Position: EARTH DAY

Studies estimate that we now are losing species at 1,000 times the normal rate. Insect populations have decreased by more than 45% worldwide; 40% of bird species are in decline; beekeepers report annual hive losses of 30% or higher--the list goes on and on, maintains Kathleen Rogers, president of Earth Day Network, Washington, D.C.

However, "the good news is that the rate of extinctions can still be slowed, and many of our declining, threatened, and endangered species can still recover if we work together now to build a united global movement of consumers, voters, educators, faith leaders, and scientists to demand immediate action.

"Today's world is facing the greatest rate of extinction since we lost the dinosaurs more than 60,000,000 years ago but, unlike the fate of the dinosaurs...