Region: International
Carbon as Commodity and Currency
As a number of writers have suggested, it’s intriguing to think about the ways in which carbon functions like money to an increasing extent as a medium of exchange, and a measure and storehouse of value. Thus, alongside (and intertwined with) the existing money-based economy, we can envision the emergence of a carbon-based system of …
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CONTINUE READINGHard and Easy Environmental Questions: A Talk With Ikal Angelei
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IOw9tsS-aI] Ikal Angelei is one of the world’s pre-eminent environmental justice activists: she is the founder of Friends of Lake Turkana, which (as the name suggests) seeks to preserve Lake Turkana from the massive Gibe III Dam planned by the Ethiopian government and World Bank. As the name does not suggest, the issue is …
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CONTINUE READINGEnvironmental Law in Canada
Americans (especially liberals) often have a warm and fuzzy vision of our neighbors to the north as a kinder, gentler version of the United States. (Remember this map after the 2004 election?) But when it comes to environmental issues, that really isn’t the case. The conservative Canadian government led by Prime Minister Harper has recently introduced its …
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CONTINUE READINGCoal, China, and Pollution
Air pollution in China is a global problem, because of climate change, and a California problem, because pollutants from China reach the U.S. West Coast. An article in the current issue of Nature has good news and bad news about coal and pollution in China. The good news is increased pollution control. The authors estimate …
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CONTINUE READINGChinese environmentalist Ma Jun an awardee of the 2012 Goldman Environmental Prize
Ma Jun, one of China’s most effective environmentalists, is a recipient of the 2012 Goldman Environmental Prize. The official release from the Goldman Environmental Prize had the following to say: Motivation While working at the South China Morning Post in the 1990s, Ma Jun had the opportunity to travel extensively in the country. He witnessed …
CONTINUE READINGWill Estrogen Save the Planet?
At least some researchers think so. According to a new study in Social Science Research, “controlling for other factors, in nations where women’s status is higher, CO2 emissions are lower.” Study coauthors Christina Ergas and Richard York, sociologists at the University of Oregon, write: even when controlling for a variety of measures of “modernization,” world-system …
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CONTINUE READINGHappy (Belated) World Water Day! There’s Good News and Bad News….
Well, that’s embarrassing. Yesterday was the United Nations’ annual World Water Day, which apparently arrives every March 22nd. I only stumbled across it by accident, since it was referenced by another website that I was reading. But the UN has put a lot of PR effort at least into the project, and developed a very …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Commerce Department Undercuts Clean Energy
The Commerce Department’s decision to levy tariffs on Chinese solar panel imports has been in the news for a couple of days, but should receive more attention for envir0nmental policy wonks than it has so far. The Obama Administration has basically decided to impair clean energy production with its decision, even if the tariffs are …
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CONTINUE READING“Developing Nations Can’t Afford Environmentalism”
At least that’s what you hear a lot from some environmental skeptics. Because poor countries are so desperate for economic growth and to lift their people out of poverty, they cannot be expected to protect their environment. (You hear that from a lot for developing nations, too). They might want to take a look at …
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CONTINUE READINGChina Vice-President Xi Jinping in America: some thoughts on US-China environmental collaboration
Some sobering developments confront us on the climate and environment front as Vice-President (and future head of China) Xi Jinping prepares to visit the United States this week. Despite an unprecedented push to reduce pollution and develop cleaner energy sources, China’s emissions of greenhouse gases and traditional pollutants have continued to soar. Chinese annual greenhouse …
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