In The News

The Moral Issue of Our Time

Jeff Nesbit April 24, 2015
Taking steps to reduce climate change is shaping into a moral cause. For his first major encyclical, Pope Francis will address climate change, prior to the UN Climate Change Conference later this year: “People of all ages, from all demographics and all corners of the planet, are beginning to recognize that significant changes are occurring in our ecosystem, and they’d like to see someone, anyone...

Yale Study Maps US Climate Opinion in Unprecedented Geographic Detail

Kevin Dennehy April 22, 2015
More than half of Americans are concerned about climate change. Americans represent about 5 percent of the world’s population yet uses nearly a quarter of the world’s energy. A team of Yale and University of Utah researchers developed a statistical model that maps public opinion and policy support on climate change in the world’s leading economy. The model was originally published in Nature...

Russia’s Turbulence Could Drive Sustainable Development

Anastasia Okorochkova April 14, 2015
Falling oil prices and western sanctions have led to hard economic times for Russians. But lingering economic crisis can also allow a country new opportunity to regroup and reform, innovating and transforming the economy. Paradoxically, the long-running crisis could drive Russia to end its reliance on export of fossil fuels and embrace sustainability. “To do so, Russia must mobilize its...

Mozambique Will Be Stripped of Its Forests “in Just a Few Years”

Andrea Dijkstra April 8, 2015
Exportation of exotic hardwood timber from Mozambique to China is rapidly eliminating Mozambique’s forests. Chinese businesses have adopted the practice of lending money for equipment like chainsaws to individual villagers in poor rural areas of Mozambique. These Mozambicans, who are often former farmers, subsequently participate in logging to pay off their debts and support their families. The...

What the West Can Learn From Japan’s “Lost Decades”

Roland Kelts April 3, 2015
Economists often label Japan as the “the sick man of Asia,” but the country’s stagnation may also reflect its leadership on sustainability. “Japan’s stagnation, pilloried by economists and analysts in the west, may turn out to be the catalyst for its greatest strengths: resilience, reinvention and quiet endurance,” writes Roland Kelts for the New Statesman. He points out that unending population...

Does Destroying Ivory Really Save Elephants?

Mwangi Kimenyi March 26, 2015
Africa’s elephant and rhino populations have declined precipitously as the continent’s illegal ivory and rhino horn trade expands out of control. Despite the international ban on the ivory trade in 1989, African governments have failed to address the poaching. In an effort to disrupt the illegal ivory market, African governments’ anti-poaching teams regularly burn intercepted stocks of ivory....

California Has About 1 Year of Water Left – Will You Ration Now?

Jay Famiglietti March 17, 2015
California is the most populated US state, and it leads other US states in farm income, responsible for 16 percent of the nation’s cash receipts for crops and 7 percent for livestock. Despite high levels of education and monitoring technology, citizens in advanced and wealthy areas refuse to acknowledge or plan for changes in climate. The state has limited water, about a year’s supply. “As...