In The News

Tax on Commodity Profits Could Postpone Scarcity

Joergen Oerstroem Moeller August 10, 2010
Few global citizens, let alone their political leaders, have yet to recognize a shifting economy underway from an era of plenty to an era of scarcity. For two centuries, resource-rich nations focused on job creation; downward pressure on commodity prices including oil, gas and minerals ensued. Emerging economies, particularly those of China and India, rapidly increase global demand. In the run-up...

The Gulf's Invisible Villain: Natural Gas

Kate Sheppard August 9, 2010
Methane accompanies oil and gas deposits; potentially explosive with machinery, bright light, sparks or pressure, the gas poses a danger to drillers and miners. The odorless and colorless gas can also displace oxygen and catch living creatures unaware. After the oil-rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, government and media attention focused on highly visible oil rather than invisible methane. Oil...

Scientists Say Gulf Spill Altering Food Web

Matthew Brown, Ramit Plushnick-Masti July 23, 2010
Some plants and animals can withstand abrupt changes in their environment, and scientists predict long-term, even permanent changes in some habitats of the Gulf of Mexico. The oil spill forces life forms to contend with more chemicals along with less sunlight and oxygen. All life depends on other life to live – disruptions in food chains and habitat can wipe out food sources for some species or...

New Killer: Climate Change

Sasha Chavkin July 22, 2010
Changes in weather patterns and the landscape, once gradual, have become more abrupt and noticeable with this century. Deserts expand, seas rise, rains pound – etching away land, jobs and homes. Hardest hit are the poorest nations, and families forced to move are left to their own devices by their governments as well as the wealthier nations that continue to emit carbon that fuel extreme weather...

In Afghanistan, a Threat of Plunder

Paul Collier July 21, 2010
Afghanistan’s poor security situation, combined with reports of enormous untapped mineral wealth, could unleash a tragic rush to exploitation, environmental destruction and civil conflict. Without good governance, Afghanistan’s lithium and gold may do little to improve Afghani daily life – as was the case with gold in the Congo, oil in Nigeria, or diamonds in Sierra Leone. In contrast, Botswana...

Tuna's End

Paul Greenberg July 15, 2010
The decline in fish stocks beneath the ocean’s surface is not readily apparent. Paul Greenberg describes the Atlantic bluefin’s beauty, power and rapid decline in this New York Times article. “Overzealous globalization,” suggests one expert, contributed to a transformation of tuna sushi – from local, seasonable delicacy to unsustainable mass craving. Today, Japan eats 80 percent of the world...

Seizing the Moment for Clean Energy

Ann Florini July 1, 2010
Government and corporate helplessness to stop oil gushing from a broken pipe in the Gulf of Mexico is a depressing reminder of the world’s utter dependence on a limited supply of fossil fuel that poses so many environmental threats. US President Barack Obama suggested that the accident could transform the nation’s energy policy, much as the 9/11 attacks altered US approach to security. But the...