Bruce Babbitt, who was Interior secretary during the Clinton administration and is an active conservationist, yesterday praised the work that the newspaper El Comercio has done in spreading the great environmental issues of concern, not only in our country but also throughout the world. Babbitt made that statement during a meeting of the Amazon Conservation Team (ACT), which took place in the capital of the United States and with the participation of renowned academics, politicians, and conservationists. ACT is chaired by Mark J. Plotkin, a leading ethnobotanist and expert on neotropical flora.