When Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski proposed a change in how the Clean Air Act is administered, I was shocked but not surprised. See The Reaction from January. Thankfully, her resolution was defeated in the US Senate yesterday. This was an attempt at a radical reconfiguring of how environmental law has been practiced in this country […]
One of the recurring leitmotifs in this past winter’s hyper-inflated media coverage of the “debate” about climate science was that the public doesn’t care about the issue anymore anyway, and that the snow in Virginia and the stolen emails from the Climate Research Unit had soured people on the science, even though it has been […]
The indispensable (to me anyway) “NY Review of Books” has an insightful look at Bill McKibben’s new book, Eaarth. The reviewer is no less a personage than Nicholas Stern. In generally praising “McKibben’s engaging and persuasive book,” Lord Stern gives a particularly succinct summary of the history of the science and present state of the […]
The needs of 195 million children suffering from malnutrition around the world are being shown in a new light through the “Starved for Attention” campaign launched last week by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the VII Photo agency. Between June 2nd and July 19th, the campaign’s website will unveil a series of mini-documentaries […]
The Danes have a lot to teach us. Samsø is a lab for the rest of the world on how to achieve carbon neutrality. Betsy Kolbert wrote a wonderful piece a couple of years ago: The Island in the Wind. And I’ve written here a few times about “convergence” and how we can have health […]
Now might be a good time to talk again about the promise of the electric or fuel-cell vehicle. Given the Gulf of Mexico disaster, one would hope that it must start to penetrate, sooner rather than later, that it is past time to leave the internal combustion engine behind. The naysayers talk about the “romance” […]
This is a characteristically compelling cover from “The New Yorker.” I do continue to be astonished that, after all these years and all the blood and treasure we’ve squandered for this fool’s gold, we’re still destroying ourselves and the earth we call home by relentlessly extracting, transporting and burning oil.
I attended this recent biannual conference examining key and emerging environmental issues in the EPA Region 2 area. It was organized by Columbia Law School’s Center for Climate Change Law (CCCL). There was a lot of interesting discussion of climate change and air pollution, including some of the critically important ins and outs of litigation […]
The annual Walk the World awareness event will take place on June 6th to raise funds and focus attention on the problem of child hunger. Organized by the World Food Programme (WFP), the event will take place in cities all over the world and as a “virtual walk” online, starts off in Auckland, New Zealand […]
Fast Forward – Ethics and Politics in the Age of Global Warming is the title of a book just out from two international relations heavyweights at Brookings. Strobe Talbott was deputy secretary of state in the Clinton administration and William J. Antholis worked at the National Security Council and at State, and was director of […]
Africa Rural Connect has partnered with World Policy Journal to offer people a chance to write their thoughts about food security in rural Africa. The organizers are looking for creative yet practical ideas for ensuring food security in rural Africa. Some of the contest details include: Submission length: 800-1,200 words Contest dates: June 1, 2010 […]
Last Thursday, the U.S. Government announced its concentrated efforts to reduce global hunger and poverty in 20 countries through an ambitious strategy document known as Feed the Future. Feed the Future reflects steps taken by the U.S. Government to reach its UN Millennium Development Goal of reducing the number of people suffering from hunger and […]
The Rolling Stones knew it years ago.* Now we’re catching up. I’ve written about natural gas a few times, basically to the effect that it’s got enormous potential as a transition fuel for many purposes as we wend our way, sooner rather than later, toward a renewable future. This is what the prophetic Barry Commoner […]
I’ve just finished reading this terrific history of the American environmental movement by Phil Shabecoff. He was America’s first environmental reporter and he’s quite the historian too. The title comes from a line from Aldo Leopold’s poignant essay “Thinking Like a Mountain.” He recounts the grand sweep of how Americans have treated their air, lands […]