It’s May 16th, I’m Gina Telaroli and this is TakePart.com’s look at the week in social action…

The Interior Department has decided today to protect the polar bear population under the Endangered Species Act. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne says that polar bears are threatened because the Arctic ice is melting. And faster than we imagined.

This is the first time that the Endangered Species Act has been used to protect a species threatened by the impacts of climate change. But the New York Times reports, this ruling may not have the impact many are hoping for:

But the long-delayed decision to list the bear as a threatened species may prove less of an impediment to industries along the Alaskan coast than many environmentalists had hoped. While further protecting the polar bear from direct or immediate threats like hunting the Interior Department added stipulations, seldom invoked under the act, that will make it relatively easy for oil and gas exploration and development activities to proceed.

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Is “Bambi” a friend or foe of the environment? Seems sort of an unusual question if you’ve seen the film - a disarmingly cute baby deer is orphaned by an evil huntsman, then makes friends with thumpity rabbits and cuddly skunks amidst the backdrop of an enchanted forest. But has its oversimplification of the issues and uber-sentimentalism distorted our views of wildlife and nature?

When the film came out in 1942 is was celebrated by wildlife conservationists and denounced by hunters. In fact, the National Audubon Society compared its conscious-raising power about the environment to Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” In The Idea of Nature in Disney Animation, David Whitley, a lecturer at Cambridge University, says that Disney movies like Bambi and Finding Nemo helped to inspire new generations of environmentalists.

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The Go Green Expo in NYC is just one great way to celebrate our fast-approaching Earth Day. The expo will feature the latest in eco-friendly products and services, as well as interactive seminars, speeches, an eco-film festival, and even an eco-friendly fashion show. Green marketplace spending exceeded $200 billion dollars in 2006, and there’s no sign of it slowing down. Educating consumers about green alternatives is an important part of lessening our environmental impact.

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Since his unconventional Bob Dylan biopic came onto the scene, a lot more folks know who Todd Haynes is. Hopefully this means that a lot more know about his film Safe - but just to be “safe” I’m going write a bit about it.

Haynes’ 1995 film starring Julianne Moore as Carol White, is on the surface a slow, strange horror film where the bad guy isn’t a ghost, monster or a man in a mask, but is in fact the chemicals that surround all of us.

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