Environmental consciousness is the latest trend in American life. From coast to coast, the country with a historical reputation for being obscenely wasteful has caught the conservation bug, which manifests itself in several forms, such as buying energy-saving light bulbs, driving hybrid cars, and voicing concern over climate change’s effect on wild animal species like polar bears. The latest object of the green craze’s affection is the narwhal, a horned species of whale that scientists recently concluded is even more threatened by global warming than the polar bear, the current mascot of the “go green” movement.
Will America’s sudden fascination and respect for the natural world last, or is it just the latest pop culture fad, destined to exist the public sphere as quickly as it entered like so many others that have come before? The country’s huge media hype machine is great at saturating an issue with obsessive coverage before quickly and unceremoniously dropping it in favor of the “next big thing.” The possibility of the green craze suffering this fate is very real. Certain wild animals – narwhals, polar bears, penguins, and Al Gore – are praying otherwise. If the movement dies, they may very well disappear along with it.
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