In The News

Gap in Rules on Oil Spills From Wells

Kate Galbraith May 21, 2010
Nations may stake territorial claims to waters off their coast, but once an accident occurs, authorities can do little to slow the spread of polluted water to other jurisdictions. Since the April 20 explosion on a drill platform in the Gulf of Mexico, just off the coast of Louisiana, oil has steadily gushed from several pipes and will soon join currents leading to the Atlantic Ocean....

Emerging Green Technology Poses Threat of Trade Wars

Bruce Stokes May 14, 2010
Smart investors recognize that cheap oil won’t last forever and emerging green technologies could revolutionize everyday business as much as computers did. As with any new technology, nations compete to perfect and produce new products for the world, making lots of money along the way, explains international economics columnist Bruce Stokes. But Stokes warns that the global trading system lacks...

Tuareg Activist Takes on French Nuclear Company

Cordula Meyer April 28, 2010
Areva, a largely state-owned French power giant, has extensive uranium mining operations in northern Niger. That uranium generates the majority of France's electricity, along with thousands of jobs in France and across Europe. Yet, left in northern Niger are millions of tons of radioactive waste that have contaminated groundwater and killed crops, destroying the nomadic lifestyle of the...

Do the Awakening Giants Have Feet of Clay? – Part I

Pranab Bardhan April 19, 2010
China and India have made impressive strides in recent decades, expanding their economies and middle classes. This two-part series examines and tests the claims made by economist Pranab Bardhan in his book “Awakening Giants, Feet of Clay: Assessing the Economic Rise of China and India.” In the book, Bardhan points out that while the two nations have lifted millions out of poverty, both continue...

Race for Resources: Deciding the Arctic’s Future Behind Closed Doors

Christoph Seidler April 7, 2010
As the Arctic changes dramatically, Canada, Russia, Denmark, Norway, and the United States met last month to discuss and plan its future. Melting ice has created new border disputes along with opportunities for mineral extraction, the latter exacerbating tensions as countries stake rival claims. Still, all five agree on one thing: no guarantees of expansive environmental protection for the region...

World's Biggest Cities Merging Into 'Mega-Regions'

John Vidal March 29, 2010
A new UN report charts the growth of mega-regions – clusters of cities that may stretch across countries and include more than 100 million people. With half the world now dwelling in cities and the pace of urbanization only expected to increase, mega-regions may displace countries to become the principal locii of economic growth. Already, mega-regions account for outsized percentages of global...

E-Waste Trade Ban Won’t End Environmental Threat

Joe Kullman March 25, 2010
While the US Congress considers a ban on the trading of electronics waste (e-waste), the larger, global problem remains unaddressed. Currently, many developed nations export their technological waste to developing nations for “backyard recycling”, where it releases harmful toxins into the environment. Trade bans, like the one Congress is considering, are intended to remove the environmental...