Looking back on Earth Day, 2010: A year ago, the catastrophic Gulf of Mexico oil spill had not yet happened; nor had the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and the subsequent nuclear leakage. The floods in Australia had not yet occurred. It was felt, then, that the ozone-layer hole over the Arctic was on the way to being fixed; maybe it is, in the long run, but meanwhile, in the spring of 2011, it showed its largest increase ever.

So last year at this time we were feeling a bit more hopeful. I was engaged in several activities in and around Earth Day, www.earthday.org/earth-day-2011, including an appearance at the Earth Day event in Washington, D.C, where I learned of many organizations I hadn't known about before– see, for instance, www.nochildleftinside.org/ — and listened to many impassioned speakers.

(MORE TO COME: Have to go out…)