In The News

Golden Age Is Fast Wilting

Gwynne Dyer October 17, 2006
The world is gradually losing its ability to feed itself. While the “Green Revolution” revolutionized agricultural efficiency in the second half of the 20th century, that revolution is over with its legacy steadily eroded by inexorable population growth. For the sixth time in seven years, the world will not produce enough food to feed itself in 2006, according to journalist Gwynne Dyer....

Union Disrupts Plan to Send Ailing Workers to India for Cheaper Medical Care

Saritha Rai October 12, 2006
It is no secret to American companies that prohibitive costs of providing healthcare to their employees eat into their profit margin: the consulting firm McKinsey and Company estimates that by 2008, top U.S. companies will be spending as much on health care as they made in profits, forcing the scaling back or eliminating of benefits. In response, some firms have begun considering employees...

Global Sludge Ends in Tragedy for Ivory Coast

Lydia Polgreen October 10, 2006
When a tanker leased by Trafigura, a multinational oil and metal trading company, docked in Amsterdam and hired the Amsterdam Port Services (APS) to process the waste it was carrying, the toxic sludge was found to be hazardous. Refusing to pay the high price asked by the APS to dispose of the material, the tanker took the waste back on board. Several weeks later, the tanker arrived at Abidjan,...

Coal Makes a Comeback

Sebastian Ramspeck October 9, 2006
Not so long ago, Western industrialists and politicians dismissed coal as a viable fuel, rejecting its tendency to pollute cities and cause serious respiratory problems. The world has no shortage of coal and so its prices are stable, but burning it releases far more carbon into the atmosphere than using either oil or natural gas, thus accelerating the pace of global warming. Even so, the West is...

In Teeming India, Water Crisis Means Dry Pipes and Foul Sludge

Somini Sengupta October 3, 2006
Some middle-class neighborhoods in India’s wealthiest cities have ample plumbing and the infrastructure for supplying water, but not the actual liquid itself. India’s major cities fail to provide reliable tap water throughout the day, and this article from “The New York Times” describes how some women devote entire days planning to secure extra water. In terms of industry and technology,...

Globalization Hits Road Bumps in India

Pranab Bardhan October 3, 2006
The economic integration of a country requires that it open to foreign investment, adhere to flexible labor laws and practice careful fiscal policies. In a country with severe poverty and economic inequality, however, such reforms do not win many votes for politicians. Well aware of this fact, India’s politicians play to what economist Pranab Bardhan calls “anti-reform populism.” Many voters...

Man and His Endangered Home

Bo Ekman September 28, 2006
In their single-minded pursuit of economic growth and wealth, human beings could be collectively working themselves out of a home. Human activities systematically degrade the water, air and other surroundings that sustain life. The problem is not with pending shortages of resources, argues systems analyst and philanthropist Bo Ekman, but a rapidly growing population and new generations that...