In The News

The Myth of Localism

George Monbiot September 9, 2003
Some delegates at the world trade talks claim to defend the interests of the poor but actually promote policies that are detrimental to developing countries, says British environmentalist and author George Monbiot in The Guardian. A proposal of particular danger, Monbiot argues, is localization, which advocates that everything that can be produced locally should be produced locally. Proponents...

Brussels Blocks Austrian Attempt to Create GM-Free Zone

Andrew Osborn September 3, 2003
A movement against genetically-modified crops in Europe appears to be no match for the powerful US biotechnology lobby. The European Union, bowing to pressure from the US representatives to the World Trade Organization, is well on its way to lifting its 5-year old moratorium on GM crop approvals. The latest battle was won by pro-GM forces this week when the EU Commission told Upper Austria that...

Heroic Capture at Sea Highlights Gaping Cavities in Toothfish Defence

Andrew Darby August 29, 2003
The Patagonian toothfish – popularly known as the Chilean Sea Bass – has long been over-fished and is protected by international laws as an endangered species. Unfortunately, there has not been a comparable international response to enforcing these laws and preventing illegal fishing. This reality is evidenced by a recent three-week chase of a Uruguayan ship through treacherous Antarctic waters...

Ecologists Fear Disaster as Oil Rush Takes Grip in Quake Zone

Nick Paton Walsh August 25, 2003
The Russian island of Sakhalin will soon be home to the largest energy project in the world, and there is fear, possibly the largest disaster. The oil rich island borders Japan and lies directly on top of an active seismic fault line, a fact that has environmentalists up in arms. They fear that the underground pipelines will not be able to withstand the island's frequent earthquakes and...

Ecologists Fear Disaster as Oil Rush Takes Grip in Quake Zone

Nick Paton Walsh August 25, 2003
The Russian island of Sakhalin will soon be home to the largest energy project in the world, and there is fear, possibly the largest disaster. The oil rich island borders Japan and lies directly on top of an active seismic fault line, a fact that has environmentalists up in arms. They fear that the underground pipelines will not be able to withstand the island's frequent earthquakes and...

Ecologists Fear Disaster as Oil Rush Takes Grip in Quake Zone

Nick Paton Walsh August 25, 2003
The Russian island of Sakhalin will soon be home to the largest energy project in the world, and there is fear, possibly the largest disaster. The oil rich island borders Japan and lies directly on top of an active seismic fault line, a fact that has environmentalists up in arms. They fear that the underground pipelines will not be able to withstand the island's frequent earthquakes and...

Birds Trying to Fly South Face Many Roadblocks

Michael Richardson August 15, 2003
One of the oldest examples of globalization does not involve airplanes, the internet, trade agreements, or even human beings, says veteran Asia watcher Michael Richardson. Every year, shorebirds of the Asia-Pacific traverse the eastern hemisphere in a 25,000 mile odyssey that lands them in regions as far flung as Australia and Siberia. They take flight when winter arrives in their northern...