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 […]
What could prove to be a critical component in the effort to successfully confront the climate crisis was launched today by Hillary Clinton at the State Department in Washington. Secretary Clinton announced the formation of the “Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants.” What are these short-lived climate pollutants? Methane, black carbon […]
Iran seems to have found a new and valuable angle to outmaneuver the world community’s – predominantly the West – latest attempt to ‘deal’ with Iran’s gradually progressing nuclear weapons program. The playbook is as follows: If your back is against the wall, it is time to get creative! So, how about targeting the weakest […]
Surging tides from the Indian Ocean, linked in part to climate change, have pushed salt water into Tanzania’s Rufiji Delta, home to the world’s largest mangrove forest and where “more than 90% of households…make their living from rice farming” according to a report from Altertnet by Kizito Makoye. Due to the destruction of rice crops by the […]
Despite an infusion of funding from international donors to dull the effects of an ongoing drought in West Africa’s Sahel region, countries in the region are still in danger. One of these countries, Mauritania, has a perennial problem with locusts that attach crops and is “a country that is three times the size of Arizona […]
Leave it to Gary Trudeau to distill something to its basics. God love him. As Daniel Patrick Moynihan noted some time back, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.” The science is settled. And no, my Denialist friends, I am not going to enter into yet-another long hassle. You can […]
The cold snap that has frozen most of Europe solid has created some tensions over Russia’s role as supplier of natural gas to its neighbors. On Friday, a Gazprom official claimed that Ukraine was taking more than its share from the pipeline that runs through its territory. For those who remember the unpleasantness between Moscow […]
Good news: Conditions in Somalia have improved enough for the UN to declare an end to the 8-month famine. Bad news: The food security situation remains perilous for Somalis. The declaration of the end of drought conditions is good news, but it brings the risk that the international community will see it as the end […]
Buffered by a signature Obama administration goal to fight childhood obesity, the final piece of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 was implemented on January 25th. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the final set of nutrition standards enacted include: Ensuring students are offered both fruits and vegetables every day of the week; […]
A comment came in recently asking me if I characterized American voters of being fanatics if they voted for and supported those politicians who fight, tooth and nail, against progress on confronting the climate crisis and fostering our transition to clean tech. I said, “Um, yes.” Here’s an article from today’s NY Times, secular socialist […]
How can you not love California if you’re an environmentalist? I’ve lauded the Golden State a few times here for its forward-thinking, smart, and economically advantageous approach to power, transportation, planning, building and curtailing greenhouse gases. The federal government has so many times taken California’s lead, most recently in pumping up the Corporate Average Fuel […]
GDTV is back on the air with a series of eight programs that encapsulate the issues rolled out this year for the Foreign Policy Association’s annual Great Decisions discussions. These discussions take place in the many and far-flung FPA groups and also in classrooms across the country. There is a bonus TV program in the […]
In Berlin, farm ministers and policy makers criticized the food waste of developed countries and emphasized the importance of nutrition education programs. Every year, consumers in developed countries waste 220 million metric tons of food, while almost one billion people go hungry. These practices not only hurt those affected by hunger, but also those who […]
Last week, Ertharin Cousin was named by the United Nations to replace Josette Sheeran as the head of the World Food Programme (WFP). Cousin currently serves as the U.S. ambassador to UN food agencies based in Rome, which include WFP and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Cousin, described by Reuters as a “a […]
So, the environmental movement drew the proverbial line in the sand: no Keystone XL pipeline. We’ve been fighting the tar sands for years, and will continue, but the Keystone XL has been the first clear solid rallying point and the first time in years that we greens have taken it to the street. Bill McKibben, […]