In The News

Huge Dust Plumes From China Cause Changes in Climate

Robert Lee Hotz August 13, 2007
Nations can impose the strictest of environmental standards – but that does not stop the pollution seeping in from other nations. Plumes of “man-made sulfates, smog, industrial fumes, carbon grit and nitrates” collect over manufacturing powerhouse China and then move with prevailing winds around the globe. On some days, almost one third of the air pollution in cities like Los Angeles can be...

One World, One Dream, One Big Human Rights Problem

Daryl Lindsey August 10, 2007
China is intent on using the 2008 Olympics to display Chinese culture along with the achievement of economic growth within a political system of communism. But activists are just as intent on exposing human-rights violations. China’s organizing effort includes not only constructing elaborate structures and planning eye-catching events, but also arresting journalists and cracking down on civil...

Other Cities Sign Up to Turn Off

John Huxley August 9, 2007
Earth Hour is a global-warming awareness initiative that originated in Sydney, but is spreading through Australia and New Zealand and beyond. Polls show that 2 million people, including entire schools and businesses, participated on March 31, 2007, turning off all their lights for an hour. The small gesture demonstrates widespread public support for tackling global warming. Organizers admit that...

Food That Travels Well

James E. McWilliams August 8, 2007
In the US, some fruits and vegetables travel thousands of miles before reaching the dinner table. It would seem logical that food products grown close to home require less energy than those from far away. Environmentalists tout domestic products, farm markets and labels that promise reduced consumption of carbon fuel. But the carbon print of vegetables should not be measured in miles alone....

Russia Plants Arctic Flag

Randy Boswell August 3, 2007
Canada, Russia, the US, Norway and Denmark all have some overlapping claims throughout the Arctic, each hoping to secure a big share of the rich oil, gas and mineral reserves believed to rest under the ice. “Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a country can secure rights to seabed territory reaching far beyond the 200-mile limit if it can prove that a portion of the ocean...

Ocean Explorers Plant Russian Flag on Arctic Sea Floor

Randy Boswell August 3, 2007
Canada, Russia, the US, Norway and Denmark all have some overlapping claims throughout the Arctic, each hoping to secure a big share of the rich oil, gas and mineral reserves believed to rest under the ice. “Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a country can secure rights to seabed territory reaching far beyond the 200-mile limit if it can prove that a portion of the ocean...

China Cancels Environmental Report

Mitchell Landsberg July 27, 2007
Governments around the globe continue to prioritize the short-term gains of economic growth over the long-term costs of environmental destruction. But with mounting property damage and increasing reports of illnesses such as asthma, nations can’t help but be embarrassed about the costs associated with environmental neglect. In early July, China convinced the World Bank to alter parts of a report...