In The News

Green Tax on Big Cars in China

Zuo Maohong August 20, 2008
Before and during the Olympics, the foreign press descended on China and complained about pollution. But China’s government has announced plans on a website to increase its vehicle excise tax to 25 percent for cars with capacity between 3 and 4 liters and to 40 percent for cars with capacity greater than 4 liters. Cars with capacity less than 1 liter will enjoy tax breaks. The Chinese government...

A Push to Increase Icebreakers in the Arctic

Andrew C. Revkin August 20, 2008
Patrolling the icy Arctic requires large ice-breaking ships, and more countries look to the Arctic as a potential source for minerals and fossil fuels. The head of the US Coast Guard has warned that “whatever mix of natural and human factors is causing the ice retreats, the Arctic is clearly opening to commerce – and potential conflict and hazards – like never before,” reports Andrew Revkin for...

New Energy Frontiers Expand Global Connections – Part II

Alexis Ringwald August 19, 2008
Necessity is the mother of invention, and that holds true for a global economy that depends on a declining supply of fossil fuels. As a result, innovations in new alternative sources could emerge from fast-growing developing nations that lack fossil fuels and cannot afford the rising prices, suggests this YaleGlobal series. The second article of the series focuses on trends toward renewable...

Olympic Cloud

Nayan Chanda August 19, 2008
Over the past three decades, China has transformed its economy from drab and close-minded socialism to a creative energy that embraces global integration, notes Nayan Chanda in his column for Businessworld. China’s long history demonstrates that isolationist thinking, fear and rigid conformity do not contribute to a prosperous strong economy, prepared to wrestle with global problems. With...

Obama’s Biofuels Policy Tension

Roger Harrabin August 13, 2008
Ethanol subsidies are popular among voters in the American Midwest, where farmers grow millions of acres of corn to produce the biofuel. It’s no surprise, then, that Barack Obama – as a senator representing Illinois – has embraced such subsidies. Yet while ethanol may be popular politically, it has proven disastrous as a matter of policy: Research suggests that producing ethanol creates more...

Globalization Is Destroying the World's Oceans

Thomas Schulz August 13, 2008
An expanding global population, a growing demand for fish and ruthless technology that sweeps the ocean floors clean are ravaging global saltwater fish populations. “About one-fourth of all known fish populations are already overfished to the brink of extinction, including once-abundant species cod and tuna,” explains Thomas Schulz for Spiegel Online. “According to the United Nations Food and...

Learning to Speak Climate

Thomas L. Friedman August 7, 2008
The effects of climate change are slow and pernicious, suggests Thomas Friedman in his New York Times column. Too many anticipate massive disasters on the scale of Hurricane Katrina, striking New Orleans in 2005 with broken dams and flooding. But instead, notices of climate change already arrive steadily by post, warns Danish geologist Minik Thorleif Rosing, in the form of higher bills for water...