In The News

Ecologists Fear Disaster as Oil Rush Takes Grip in Quake Zone

Nick Paton Walsh August 25, 2003
The Russian island of Sakhalin will soon be home to the largest energy project in the world, and there is fear, possibly the largest disaster. The oil rich island borders Japan and lies directly on top of an active seismic fault line, a fact that has environmentalists up in arms. They fear that the underground pipelines will not be able to withstand the island's frequent earthquakes and...

Ecologists Fear Disaster as Oil Rush Takes Grip in Quake Zone

Nick Paton Walsh August 25, 2003
The Russian island of Sakhalin will soon be home to the largest energy project in the world, and there is fear, possibly the largest disaster. The oil rich island borders Japan and lies directly on top of an active seismic fault line, a fact that has environmentalists up in arms. They fear that the underground pipelines will not be able to withstand the island's frequent earthquakes and...

Birds Trying to Fly South Face Many Roadblocks

Michael Richardson August 15, 2003
One of the oldest examples of globalization does not involve airplanes, the internet, trade agreements, or even human beings, says veteran Asia watcher Michael Richardson. Every year, shorebirds of the Asia-Pacific traverse the eastern hemisphere in a 25,000 mile odyssey that lands them in regions as far flung as Australia and Siberia. They take flight when winter arrives in their northern...

Cleaner Air, Courtesy of California

August 14, 2003
The US may make headway on increasing automotive efficiency without federal support. Automakers General Motors and DaimlerChrysler dropped a lawsuit against a California rule requiring them to produce millions of cleaner, more efficient "hybrid" cars that operate on a combination of gas and electricity. At a time when Americans are continuing their love affair with the SUV and the...

Why is Russia Dragging its Feet on Kyoto?

Michael Grubb July 14, 2003
Russia is yet to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty designed to reduce the threat of climate change through reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The Kyoto Protocol, ratified by 110 countries, also includes provisions for market-oriented mechanisms for “trading emission allowances and emission credits granted for clean energy investment.” Michael Grubb and Yuri Safonov, scholars of climate...

Preservation of Asia’s Forests: A Global Hurdle

Takeshi Toma July 9, 2003
The destruction of Indonesia’s rainforests is a local problem with global consequences and solutions, this Jakarta Post article maintains. While forests provide integral resources both locally and globally, curbing their degradation requires a collective effort. The recently formed Asia Forest Partnership (AFP), comprised now of 10 member countries, provides an excellent start. However,...

The Great Rainforest Tragedy

Michael McCarthy June 28, 2003
Brazil’s 1.6 million acres of rainforest is the most species-rich habitat on earth. But it has long been threatened by development, logging, and farming undertaken by a burgeoning population mired in poverty. Deforestation has jumped by 40% in the last year, shocking environmentalists and government officials, who have promised to take action against the problem. But the cause of deforestation...