In The News

Arab World Risks Missing its Development Goals

Majdoline Hatoum April 2, 2004
Illiteracy, gender inequality, and unemployment plague Arab countries, despite the region's concentration of oil wealth. Arab leaders addressed these issues at a recent development conference. They proposed various plans and strategies to help Arab countries meet the Millennium Development Goal, which was signed by 189 countries in 2000 as part of the UN's Millennium Declaration. The...

Australia's Greedy Oil Deals in East Timor

April 1, 2004
Ownership and control of the rich gas fields in the East Timor Sea – the subject of recent bilateral discussions between Australia and East Timor – provides a "harsh" but valuable lesson in international relations, says this editorial in Thailand's The Nation. Australia played a critical role in ending violence in East Timor and in ensuring the country's independence from...

Political Shades of Green Clash

Miguel Bustillo March 24, 2004
Immigration has once again spurred a divisive debate among environmental conservationists in the USA. Even the 112-year-old Sierra Club is facing an 'insurgent' campaign aimed at getting the group to come down hard for immigration restrictions. For decades, population control has featured prominently in the agenda of most environmental groups. Some environmentalists argue that the...

Shell Withheld Reserves Data to Aid Nigeria

Jeff Gerth March 19, 2004
Shell Oil recently downgraded its oil reserve estimates by 20%, sending the company's stock spiraling and investors panicking. Now, reports indicate that Shell's revisions include a downgrading of its Nigerian reserves by 60% - a diminution the company has kept "confidential in view of host country sensitivities." The fragile Nigerian government, which depends on oil export...

Dam Building Threatens China's 'Grand Canyon'

Jim Yardley March 10, 2004
Dam projects are often controversial, for they require the displacement of peoples, destruction of the riparian zone, and other environmental consequences. In China, most attention has focused on the large Three Gorges Dam, set to be completed in 2009 at an expense of $25 billion and the displacement of one million people. There is, however, another project worth paying attention to, though it...

Still Not Too Late to Prevent a Doomsday

James Gustave Speth March 10, 2004
When it comes to the global environment, optimistic views are few and far between. In his new book, Red Sky at Morning, James Gustave Speth, Dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, tackles the challenges posed by global environmental problems with rare optimism. In this essay adapted from his book, he acknowledges that there is much to be pessimistic about. Although some...

Six 'Green' Mercs Heading Here for Test

Christopher Tan March 4, 2004
Singapore will soon host six of 60 environmentally friendly Mercedes-Benz cars built by DaimlerChrysler. The cars, which run on fuel cells powered by hydrogen, will be tested by a number of different firms, including BP Singapore, Michelin, and Lufthansa. Once complete, the tests will help to develop future models. While the estimated price of each vehicle – some say close to $1.8 million –...