In The News

Organic Food Is Healthier and Safer, Four-Year EU Investigation Shows

Emily Dugan October 30, 2007
With the rhapsodizing of moms who want healthy children and the battle cries of right-wing skeptics, it can be difficult to depoliticize the debate about organically grown foods and root out scientific information about how they compare to conventionally grown counterparts. The European Union funded a four-year long study comparing the nutritional value of organic and conventional produce. The...

UN Warns of Environmental Threats

James Kanter October 26, 2007
A report released by the United Nations Environment Program warns that the planet’s resources are not enough to provide for the current consumption patterns of the world population. Highly industrialized regions have developed habits of living beyond their means and pass these habits on to people in every corner of the globe. The rapidly expanding world population has increased the speed of...

Gale Warning, Global Burden Sharing

Joergen Oerstroem Moeller October 19, 2007
Global questions of political economy have traditionally revolved around sharing public goods or dealing with crises. Today, however, the world must decide how to distribute the costs of tremendous challenges that are looming over the horizon. Joergen Oerstroem Moeller, visiting senior research fellow with the Institute of Southeast Asian Study, anticipates the world to be buffeted by the...

Why Climate Change Can't Be Stopped

Paul J. Saunders October 18, 2007
Most world leaders agree that global warming is a real and pressing issue, and are ready for any ideas on how to stop, fix or adapt to the problem. Environmentalists still express hope that conservation - some immediate sacrifices - could save species, habitats and even some human lives. “Unfortunately, given the scale and complexity of modern economies and the time required for new technologies...

Overheated Planet Seeking Solutions: Emissions Fix May Lie Beneath Us

Laurie Goering October 16, 2007
Early in 2007, businessman and environmentalist Richard Branson offered a $25 million prize for developing a technology that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. An existing technology, however, promises to capture those emissions before they begin warming the planet. Carbon sequestration involves trapping carbon emissions from power plants or other polluters, pumping them deep underground...

Arctic Melt Unnerves the Experts

Andrew C. Revkin October 12, 2007
Geologists who study the Arctic will remember summer of 2007 for a massive melt-off. Another surprise for scientists was that moving ice contributed so much to the meltdown. “The pace of change has far exceeded what had been estimated by almost all the simulations used to envision how the Arctic will respond to rising concentrations of greenhouse gases linked to global warming,” writes Andrew...

In Search of Common Sense

Bo Ekman October 12, 2007
Globalization and an unchecked quest for economic growth have rapidly changed the world. Growing numbers of people expect a standard of living substantially higher than what the earth has capacity to provide. Humans increasingly confront problems global in scope, yet the world lacks a cohesive form of governance that efficiently addresses issues that surpass national boundaries. The world could...