In The News

Trouble for Palm Oil

January 14, 2010
Once thought unhealthy and a contributor to deforestation, palm plantations meant to produce vegetable oil have long faced many critics. Though the health concerns have been dispelled, worries over deforestation remain. Unilever, one of the largest consumers of palm oil, has withdrawn a contract with a large Indonesian producer precisely over concerns that palm plantations are destroying the rain...

Kenya Fishermen See Upside To Pirates: More Fish

Jason Straziuso January 13, 2010
In a weird twist of fate, Somali pirates have helped Kenya’s fishing improve. The threat posed by these pirates in the western Indian Ocean has discouraged foreign vessels from fishing in the region. This sudden drop in fishing has allowed fish stocks to replenish – especially varieties that had all but disappeared such as red snapper and barracuda – providing Kenyan fisherman with better catches...

Cold War Offered Odd Benefit – It Limited Species Invasions

January 11, 2010
For supporters of globalization, isolationism is usually thought to have negative consequences. But for Eastern Europe, cut off during the Cold War, such isolation had a positive impact on preventing environmental damage that can occur from the influx of invasive species – birds, in this case. A study conducted by scientists at Oregon State University found that Eastern Europe saw its non-...

Fallout from Copenhagen: Has the EU Lost Its Global Relevance?

Jean-Pierre Lehmann January 5, 2010
The first decade of the 21st century is still garnering many monikers. But Professor Jean-Pierre Lehmann believes that it may soon be considered Europe’s swan song as a global power. From a storied constitution to lack of a consistent trade policy to a failure to effect global policy on climate change, the EU demonstrated throughout the decade that it cannot act in a coherent fashion and that its...

Copenhagen: Yet Another Giant Beginning with an Uncertain End

Scott Barrett December 21, 2009
As feared by many, the UN conference on climate change has produced a lame document which can, most charitably be described as a beginning. As environmental economist Scott Barrett notes, previous meetings on the environment were also called a beginning but have not ended in anything tangible. Despite a long period spent on negotiations, the final outcome is a short text that reflects a lowest-...

World's Top Polluter Emerges as Green-Technology Leader

Shai Oster December 15, 2009
China’s low cost labor, government support, and cheap capital may help the country become one of the largest providers of clean technology. The country’s solar panels and wind turbines have already received much press, but now there is a chance that China may find an economic solution to reducing carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. Known as carbon capture, various technologies exist to...

The Forecast is Gloomy

Nayan Chanda December 7, 2009
The prospects for a successor climate change treaty to the Kyoto protocol coming out of the Copenhagen summit are grim. And while the US and China have recently announced new targets, cynics may conclude that such measures are simply ploys to avert blame for failing to commit to stemming climate change. Indeed, Obama’s proposed 17 percent emission cut is closer to four percent when compared to...