In The News

Globalism, RIP

Carl Pope January 19, 2007
Trade agreements do not have to ignore social and environmental standards, argues editor Carl Pope in “Sierra Magazine.” Trade agreements, like the Doha Round, will falter as long as negotiators do not prevent the benefits from accumulating among the wealthiest and bypassing the poor, he suggests. In the meantime, protectionist, isolationist and populist movements surge in developing nations....

A Nuclear Power Renaissance

Rüdiger Falksohn January 16, 2007
In an effort to prevent carbon-dioxide emissions and global warming, more nations pursue nuclear power, including some that lack ample water to cool the reactors or remote areas for storing the waste. The world now has 31 countries with 435 atomic reactors generating power, and at least 100 more reactors are planned, reports Rüdiger Falksohn in “Der Spiegel.” Falksohn also offers the reminder...

Cold Comfort in Climate Change

Peter Fisher January 8, 2007
Extreme weather patterns, hitting all parts of the globe, up-ends the untested proposition that the world has at least a decade to control or adapt to climate change. Scientists and corporate interests could both be wrong about global warming, and the phenomenon could hit much sooner, much harder, than anyone has yet predicted. Environmental analyst Peter Fisher reviews the growing body of...

A Ransom Worth Paying

January 2, 2007
In pursuit of profits, Brazilians quickly search for new land to plant soybean fields, and the rainforests of the state of Amazonas could vanish within a generation, according to an article in “The Economist.” Some Brazilians would not mind putting a stop to deforestation, but the only way that will happen is if wealthy nations pay Brazil and other poor countries in the region to save the...

India Digs Deeper, But Wells Are Drying Up

Somini Sengupta December 22, 2006
India, soon to be the world’s most populous country, is running out of water. Encouraged by cheap electricity doled out by vote-buying politicians, rural Indians have spent the past few decades using electric pumps to suck up and sell the nation’s groundwater reserves. Such water harvesting has provided poor Indians with a steady stream of cash, but ill-timed droughts can leave Indian aquifers...

Recalculating the Costs of Global Climate Change

Hal R. Varian December 18, 2006
Without immediate action to reduce global warming, the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change warns that governments around the world risk severe economic damage, predicting a 20 percent reduction in the global gross domestic product. Economists have scrutinized the 700-page report, and express some concerns. William D. Nordhaus of Yale questions Stern’s valuation of future generations...

Energy Firms Come to Terms With Climate Change

Steven Mufson November 30, 2006
With Democrats controlling US Congress, many anticipate new federal regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Executives of energy firms have shifted attention away from battling the existence of global warming to debating methods for controlling the trend: taxing emissions, capping emissions and allowing firms to trade credits, or trapping and storing emissions. Many company officials...