In The News

Newsweek: Half of World’s Olive Oil Threatened by Deadly Bacteria in Spain

Jessica Wapner July 10, 2017
Spain has more than 340 million olive trees, and the world’s largest olive oil producer is especially vulnerable to the deadly plant pathogen Xylella fastidiosa. The first case on mainland Spain was confirmed earlier this month. X. fastidiosa is native to the Americas, and its first reported sighting in Europe was in Italy four years ago, killing approximately 1 million olive trees there. Many...

Project Syndicate: Trump’s Sugar Swamp

Jeffrey Frankel June 29, 2017
In a prelude to renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement that US President Trump promised on the campaign trail, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross recently concluded a deal with Mexico over sugar production. The sugar industry, however, still wants stricter protections from imported Mexican sugar when negotiations begin. In Project Syndicate, Jeffrey Frankel argues that the...

The Diplomat: Asia and the Fall of Coal

Nithin Coca June 26, 2017
Asia, accounting for about 60 percent of the world’s population, is abruptly shifting away from coal toward renewable energies, especially solar. The most populated nations could lead the continent. “From 2002 to 2012, the global coal trade doubled, with the four largest Asian economies – Japan, South Korea, China, and India – accounting for the majority of imports,” reports Nithin Coca for the...

Harvard Business Review: Calculating the Cost of Letting Climate Change Happen

Dante Disparte June 21, 2017
Climate change is already contributing to economic consequences, and policies that prevent flooding, drought, rising temperatures and other risks offer economic opportunity, argues Dante Disparte for Harvard Business Review. He adds that more than $2 trillion in economic output could be at risk over the next decade. “Military leaders in both the [United States and the United Kingdom] have argued...

The Asia-Pacific Journal, Japan Focus: Will China’s New Silk Road Contribute to Export of Black Fossil-Fueled Economy?

John A. Mathews and Hao Tan June 19, 2017
Former US President Barack Obama imposed controls on fossil fuels to protect the planet and position the United States as a leader in the development of alternative fuels. Donald Trump has reversed course on such policies, and this could put China and other countries in charge of green energy. John A. Mathews and Hao Tan examine whether China might instead simply outsource the most polluting...

Bloomberg: Trump's Big Paris Mistake

June 6, 2017
By refusing to confront the growing and many risks associated with climate change, Donald Trump is breaking a vow to run the country like a business. “Any rational, responsible business leader, faced with an existential threat to his enterprise, would take steps to manage the risk,” argues a Bloomberg editorial. Rising seas threaten the tourism industry, high temperatures and droughts threaten...

The New York Times: As Trump Exits Paris Agreement, Other Nations Are Defiant

Somini Sengupta, Melissa Eddy and Chris Buckley June 3, 2017
By withdrawing the United States from a non-binding treaty, Donald Trump rejects that climate change is a crisis. He rejects the opinion of a majority of US citizens and virtually the entire global science community. He rejects notions that cities like Pittsburgh and Paris might have common interests or that the US as biggest carbon polluter in history should contribute to a fund helping poor...