Okay, the U.S. may have been the first to the moon, but we have not been the first to regulate greenhouse gases. However, we’re getting there. California has been advancing its cap-and-trade regime among other terrific programs, we’ve got the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in the Northeast and there are all sorts of other programs […]
Two decades ago, the Baltic States became politically independent from Moscow. Their energy independence has yet to occur. In Lithuania, Russia’s Gazprom remains the sole supplier of natural gas to the nation of 3.2 million, Obviously, this gives Russia quite a bit of leverage in Lithuania post-independence – February in Vilnius is much more pleasant […]
The Global Conference on Women in Agriculture, which aimed at discussing women’s critical role in food production and promoting gender sensitive agricultural research, was held in New Delhi, India from March 13th to the 15th . According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Farming First, women, on average, constitute 43% […]
In his recent article Michael Klare points to an often overlooked cause of higher gas prices in the U.S. – “a fundamental shift in the structure of the oil industry”. In any public discussion the usual explanations for rising gas prices are geopolitical pressures in connection with current tensions in Iran, Nigeria, Sudan, South Sudan […]
Why Not Frack? is the title of an article in a recent issue of the “NY Review of Books.” One of the best environmental journalists we’ve got, Bill McKibben, is the author. McKibben, of course, is more than just a journalist. He’s a ground-breaking thinker and, in recent years, a very serious and effective activist. […]
A year ago today, a huge earthquake hit Japan, followed by a tsunami that destroyed thousands of lives. It also started a chain of events that caused three reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant to meltdown. Here are a few facts that are important to remember as we reconsider nuclear power and how we do […]
In this climax of crises, the middle class is not the only one to have considerably suffered; the environment has been the other loser. Social policies and the welfare state have been slashed across Europe and the U.S. in the name of austerity measures and debt crisis. The environment has been increasingly slaughtered in the […]
The Chinese government unveiled its defense budget for 2012 ahead of its annual full session of the National People’s Congress (China’s legislature), detailing an increase in military spending to 670.3 billion yuan (about $106 billion). This boost to military spending is the most recent in a “near-unbroken string of double-digit rises across two decades” and […]
On a recent edition of BBC Africa Debate, the issue of “the acquisition of millions of hectares of prime of farmland in Africa and the developing world by foreign investors” was subject of a panel discussion hosted by the BBC’s Alex Jakana and Justin Rowlatt that took place in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The debate […]
The distinguished economist William Nordhaus has a succinct and useful piece in the latest issue of the “NY Review of Books” that refutes the now mildly famous letter to the Wall St. Journal from 16 scientists from January. (I am reminded of the famous quote from Erwin Chargaff about James Watson and Francis Crick: “That… […]
The release of the film version of the popular novel, “The Hunger Games,” has been preceded by a joint venture between the films stars, producers and two leading food aid organizations; World Food Programme (WFP) and Feed America. The goal of the partnership is to draw attention to global hunger through a special “The Hunger […]
Traditionally the deployment of U.S. armed forces into a conflict zone is one of the most difficult and controversial in U.S. foreign policy. In general, it is often stated that vital national interests that are at stake and the potential political risks as well as costs of a deployment of U.S. armed forces are among […]
In a recent speech in Rome, Bill Gates addressed the global agriculture community, encouraging a revitalization of the world’s agriculture and food system. Stating that the current system is “outdated and inefficient,” Gates argued that increasing coordination among international food agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP), and International […]
Both governments and international food aid agencies are shifting their approach to hunger relief by focusing less on simply increasing the supply of food and instead focusing on nutrition, according to a recent article in The Economist. While the Green Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s attacked the leading problem of its day – an […]
Over the weekend, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin E. Dempsey commented that at this stage the U.S. did not believe Iran had decided to pursue the development of nuclear weapons per se and that it was a “rational” actor. Obviously, this assessment is based on Iran’s past behavior and I tend not […]