HumaneSpot.org is less than 18 months old, but we are very fortunate to have a sizable and devoted following among both animal and environmental advocates. As 2008 comes to a close, we thought we would share some of our users' favorite items from the past year. Based on the number of unique views, here are HumaneSpot.org's most popular blog posts, research citations, and web pages of the year.

In his recent essay, "A Case for a New Green Politics," environmentalist James Gustave Speth argues that the environmental movement must be more aggressive and far-thinking in its approach. Speth, who is also dean of the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, says there has been a lack of focus on "deeper approaches to change." Although the essay is primarily directed at environmentalists, it offers interesting challenges to the conventional wisdom that is also held by many animal advocates.

Readers of this blog will already know that I have a thing for lab meat. I have written in the past that successful production and commercialization of in vitro animal flesh would reduce animal suffering by an estimated 98%, without ever having to convince anyone about "animal rights." Simply taking animals out of the equation does nothing to help progress human morality, of course, but it would profoundly help those animals who are raised and slaughtered for food. For animal advocates, it should be an obvious choice to support in vitro meat.