Showing posts with label world economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label world economy. Show all posts
3/08/2010
3/06/2010
2/17/2010
Global Weirding, US Addiction to Oil
clip: "China, of course, understands that, which is why it is investing heavily in clean-tech, efficiency and high-speed rail. It sees the future trends and is betting on them. Indeed, I suspect China is quietly laughing at us right now. And Iran, Russia, Venezuela and the whole OPEC gang are high-fiving each other. Nothing better serves their interests than to see Americans becoming confused about climate change, and, therefore, less inclined to move toward clean-tech and, therefore, more certain to remain addicted to oil. Yes, sir, it is morning in Saudi Arabia."
article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/17/opinion/17friedman.html
article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/17/opinion/17friedman.html
1/21/2010
11/24/2009
Hmmmmm. . . .
"In short, we are prepared to die in order to live a life that is killing us." ~ Keith Farnish
9/25/2009
Over-consumption Alive and Well
Recession barely dents 'eco-debt'
The global recession has barely dented the trend to over consumption according to a report out today.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/science/nature/8273791.stm
The global recession has barely dented the trend to over consumption according to a report out today.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/science/nature/8273791.stm
9/17/2009
China, Venezuela, Oil
China in huge Venezuela oil deal
Venezuela announces a $16bn deal with China for oil exploration in the Orinoco river, after a similar agreement with Russia.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/americas/8260200.stm
Venezuela announces a $16bn deal with China for oil exploration in the Orinoco river, after a similar agreement with Russia.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/americas/8260200.stm
9/16/2009
World Health Catastrophe
Doctors warn on climate failure
Failure to agree a new UN climate deal in December will usher in a "global health catastrophe", according to medical leaders.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/science/nature/8257766.stm
Failure to agree a new UN climate deal in December will usher in a "global health catastrophe", according to medical leaders.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/science/nature/8257766.stm
9/09/2009
Indigenous Foods Under Attack
http://www.grist.org/article/2009-09-08-globalization-threatens-indigenous-foods-says-u.n.-agency/
7/06/2009
6/29/2009
Betraying the Planet
Betraying the Planet
By PAUL KRUGMAN
So the House passed the Waxman-Markey climate-change bill. In political terms, it was a remarkable achievement.
But 212 representatives voted no. A handful of these no votes came from representatives who considered the bill too weak, but most rejected the bill because they rejected the whole notion that we have to do something about greenhouse gases.
And as I watched the deniers make their arguments, I couldn’t help thinking that I was watching a form of treason — treason against the planet.
To fully appreciate the irresponsibility and immorality of climate-change denial, you need to know about the grim turn taken by the latest climate research.
The fact is that the planet is changing faster than even pessimists expected: ice caps are shrinking, arid zones spreading, at a terrifying rate. And according to a number of recent studies, catastrophe — a rise in temperature so large as to be almost unthinkable — can no longer be considered a mere possibility. It is, instead, the most likely outcome if we continue along our present course.
Thus researchers at M.I.T., who were previously predicting a temperature rise of a little more than 4 degrees by the end of this century, are now predicting a rise of more than 9 degrees. Why? Global greenhouse gas emissions are rising faster than expected; some mitigating factors, like absorption of carbon dioxide by the oceans, are turning out to be weaker than hoped; and there’s growing evidence that climate change is self-reinforcing — that, for example, rising temperatures will cause some arctic tundra to defrost, releasing even more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Temperature increases on the scale predicted by the M.I.T. researchers and others would create huge disruptions in our lives and our economy. As a recent authoritative U.S. government report points out, by the end of this century New Hampshire may well have the climate of North Carolina today, Illinois may have the climate of East Texas, and across the country extreme, deadly heat waves — the kind that traditionally occur only once in a generation — may become annual or biannual events.
In other words, we’re facing a clear and present danger to our way of life, perhaps even to civilization itself. How can anyone justify failing to act?
Well, sometimes even the most authoritative analyses get things wrong. And if dissenting opinion-makers and politicians based their dissent on hard work and hard thinking — if they had carefully studied the issue, consulted with experts and concluded that the overwhelming scientific consensus was misguided — they could at least claim to be acting responsibly.
But if you watched the debate on Friday, you didn’t see people who’ve thought hard about a crucial issue, and are trying to do the right thing. What you saw, instead, were people who show no sign of being interested in the truth. They don’t like the political and policy implications of climate change, so they’ve decided not to believe in it — and they’ll grab any argument, no matter how disreputable, that feeds their denial.
Indeed, if there was a defining moment in Friday’s debate, it was the declaration by Representative Paul Broun of Georgia that climate change is nothing but a “hoax” that has been “perpetrated out of the scientific community.” I’d call this a crazy conspiracy theory, but doing so would actually be unfair to crazy conspiracy theorists. After all, to believe that global warming is a hoax you have to believe in a vast cabal consisting of thousands of scientists — a cabal so powerful that it has managed to create false records on everything from global temperatures to Arctic sea ice.
Yet Mr. Broun’s declaration was met with applause.
Given this contempt for hard science, I’m almost reluctant to mention the deniers’ dishonesty on matters economic. But in addition to rejecting climate science, the opponents of the climate bill made a point of misrepresenting the results of studies of the bill’s economic impact, which all suggest that the cost will be relatively low.
Still, is it fair to call climate denial a form of treason? Isn’t it politics as usual?
Yes, it is — and that’s why it’s unforgivable.
Do you remember the days when Bush administration officials claimed that terrorism posed an “existential threat” to America, a threat in whose face normal rules no longer applied? That was hyperbole — but the existential threat from climate change is all too real.
Yet the deniers are choosing, willfully, to ignore that threat, placing future generations of Americans in grave danger, simply because it’s in their political interest to pretend that there’s nothing to worry about. If that’s not betrayal, I don’t know what is.
By PAUL KRUGMAN
So the House passed the Waxman-Markey climate-change bill. In political terms, it was a remarkable achievement.
But 212 representatives voted no. A handful of these no votes came from representatives who considered the bill too weak, but most rejected the bill because they rejected the whole notion that we have to do something about greenhouse gases.
And as I watched the deniers make their arguments, I couldn’t help thinking that I was watching a form of treason — treason against the planet.
To fully appreciate the irresponsibility and immorality of climate-change denial, you need to know about the grim turn taken by the latest climate research.
The fact is that the planet is changing faster than even pessimists expected: ice caps are shrinking, arid zones spreading, at a terrifying rate. And according to a number of recent studies, catastrophe — a rise in temperature so large as to be almost unthinkable — can no longer be considered a mere possibility. It is, instead, the most likely outcome if we continue along our present course.
Thus researchers at M.I.T., who were previously predicting a temperature rise of a little more than 4 degrees by the end of this century, are now predicting a rise of more than 9 degrees. Why? Global greenhouse gas emissions are rising faster than expected; some mitigating factors, like absorption of carbon dioxide by the oceans, are turning out to be weaker than hoped; and there’s growing evidence that climate change is self-reinforcing — that, for example, rising temperatures will cause some arctic tundra to defrost, releasing even more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Temperature increases on the scale predicted by the M.I.T. researchers and others would create huge disruptions in our lives and our economy. As a recent authoritative U.S. government report points out, by the end of this century New Hampshire may well have the climate of North Carolina today, Illinois may have the climate of East Texas, and across the country extreme, deadly heat waves — the kind that traditionally occur only once in a generation — may become annual or biannual events.
In other words, we’re facing a clear and present danger to our way of life, perhaps even to civilization itself. How can anyone justify failing to act?
Well, sometimes even the most authoritative analyses get things wrong. And if dissenting opinion-makers and politicians based their dissent on hard work and hard thinking — if they had carefully studied the issue, consulted with experts and concluded that the overwhelming scientific consensus was misguided — they could at least claim to be acting responsibly.
But if you watched the debate on Friday, you didn’t see people who’ve thought hard about a crucial issue, and are trying to do the right thing. What you saw, instead, were people who show no sign of being interested in the truth. They don’t like the political and policy implications of climate change, so they’ve decided not to believe in it — and they’ll grab any argument, no matter how disreputable, that feeds their denial.
Indeed, if there was a defining moment in Friday’s debate, it was the declaration by Representative Paul Broun of Georgia that climate change is nothing but a “hoax” that has been “perpetrated out of the scientific community.” I’d call this a crazy conspiracy theory, but doing so would actually be unfair to crazy conspiracy theorists. After all, to believe that global warming is a hoax you have to believe in a vast cabal consisting of thousands of scientists — a cabal so powerful that it has managed to create false records on everything from global temperatures to Arctic sea ice.
Yet Mr. Broun’s declaration was met with applause.
Given this contempt for hard science, I’m almost reluctant to mention the deniers’ dishonesty on matters economic. But in addition to rejecting climate science, the opponents of the climate bill made a point of misrepresenting the results of studies of the bill’s economic impact, which all suggest that the cost will be relatively low.
Still, is it fair to call climate denial a form of treason? Isn’t it politics as usual?
Yes, it is — and that’s why it’s unforgivable.
Do you remember the days when Bush administration officials claimed that terrorism posed an “existential threat” to America, a threat in whose face normal rules no longer applied? That was hyperbole — but the existential threat from climate change is all too real.
Yet the deniers are choosing, willfully, to ignore that threat, placing future generations of Americans in grave danger, simply because it’s in their political interest to pretend that there’s nothing to worry about. If that’s not betrayal, I don’t know what is.
6/21/2009
World Hunger Hits One Billion
World hunger 'hits one billion'
One billion people are hungry around the world, with a 100 million increase blamed on the global recession, says the UN.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/europe/8109698.stm
One billion people are hungry around the world, with a 100 million increase blamed on the global recession, says the UN.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/europe/8109698.stm
5/11/2009
5/07/2009
Show Us the Money
UN 'stunned' by scale of bail-out
If extra money is not found to tackle climate change, bail-outs could be a "waste of money", UN head of environment warns. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/science/nature/8036559.stm
If extra money is not found to tackle climate change, bail-outs could be a "waste of money", UN head of environment warns. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/science/nature/8036559.stm
4/29/2009
European Bees in BIG Trouble
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/bees/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier
4/27/2009
Global Economic Crisis
World Bank demands poverty action
World Bank head Robert Zoellick warns of a "human catastrophe" unless more is done to tackle the global economic crisis.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/business/8019942.stm
World Bank head Robert Zoellick warns of a "human catastrophe" unless more is done to tackle the global economic crisis.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/business/8019942.stm
4/15/2009
4/08/2009
SS Film, How Cuba Survived Peak Oil, Apr. 14, SCC
Moore County Sustainable Film SeriesTuesday, April 14th, 6:30-8pm | Sandhills Community College, Dempsey Student Center, Clement Dining Room
Our Next Film: “The Power of Community- How Cuba Survived Peak Oil”
Sustainable Sandhills will be showing the second film in our Film Series focused on sustainability-related topics. The desire of Sustainable Sandhills is to heighten public awareness of pressing sustainability issues and to encourage community dialogue following each film.
The next film in our sustainable film series is the inspiring and award winning documentary, “The Power of Community-How Cuba Survived Peak Oil” by the Arthur Morgan Institute for Community Solutions. The film documents the struggle of the Cuban people after they became the first country faced with the peak oil crisis. With oil supplies drastically reduced and hunger spreading, people were left with no other choice and resorted to growing food wherever they could, which led to widespread urban gardening. As a follow-up to our upcoming Urban Farm Tour, “The Power of community” will take a look at local food as a necessity.
It will be shown Tuesday, April 14th, at Sandhills Community College's Dempsey Student Center, upstairs in the Clement Dining Room from 6:30-8:00 PM. The Film Series is held on a bi-monthly schedule, alternating with the Sustainable Sandhills Moore County Community Action Team Meetings. Each film will be aired from 6:30-8:00 PM at the same location, and the remaining 2009 revised schedule is as follows: June 18th, August 20th, October 22nd, and December 10th.
Bring the family! All ages are invited to attend and it’s FREE!!! We look forward to seeing you there!
Don’t Forget these upcoming events:
April 11th Urban Farm Tour.
April 21st & 22nd Sandhills Community College, Green Summit
Please contact Amanda with any questions regarding the Film Series at amandab@sustainablesandhills.org
Our Next Film: “The Power of Community- How Cuba Survived Peak Oil”
Sustainable Sandhills will be showing the second film in our Film Series focused on sustainability-related topics. The desire of Sustainable Sandhills is to heighten public awareness of pressing sustainability issues and to encourage community dialogue following each film.
The next film in our sustainable film series is the inspiring and award winning documentary, “The Power of Community-How Cuba Survived Peak Oil” by the Arthur Morgan Institute for Community Solutions. The film documents the struggle of the Cuban people after they became the first country faced with the peak oil crisis. With oil supplies drastically reduced and hunger spreading, people were left with no other choice and resorted to growing food wherever they could, which led to widespread urban gardening. As a follow-up to our upcoming Urban Farm Tour, “The Power of community” will take a look at local food as a necessity.
It will be shown Tuesday, April 14th, at Sandhills Community College's Dempsey Student Center, upstairs in the Clement Dining Room from 6:30-8:00 PM. The Film Series is held on a bi-monthly schedule, alternating with the Sustainable Sandhills Moore County Community Action Team Meetings. Each film will be aired from 6:30-8:00 PM at the same location, and the remaining 2009 revised schedule is as follows: June 18th, August 20th, October 22nd, and December 10th.
Bring the family! All ages are invited to attend and it’s FREE!!! We look forward to seeing you there!
Don’t Forget these upcoming events:
April 11th Urban Farm Tour.
April 21st & 22nd Sandhills Community College, Green Summit
Please contact Amanda with any questions regarding the Film Series at amandab@sustainablesandhills.org
4/03/2009
Cotton, World's Dirtiest Crop
Cotton is "the world's dirtiest crop": The Deadly Chemicals in Cotton, a joint report by Pesticide Action Network UK and the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), notes that $2 billion worth of chemicals are used on the world's cotton fields every year and "cotton is responsible for the release of 16% of global insecticides."
The World Health Organization classifies the cotton pesticide aldicarb as "extremely hazardous" while the joint report calls the organochlorine pesticide endosulfan "the most important source of fatal poisoning among cotton farmers in West Africa." Cotton chemicals also pose a major health risk to workers and children in Uzbekistan, India and other high-production countries. EJF's "White Gold- The True Cost of Cotton" about cotton's impacts in Uzbekistan won the Environmental Activism & Social Justice Award at the 9th Annual Earth Vision International Environmental Film Festival in Santa Cruz, CA this month.
The World Health Organization classifies the cotton pesticide aldicarb as "extremely hazardous" while the joint report calls the organochlorine pesticide endosulfan "the most important source of fatal poisoning among cotton farmers in West Africa." Cotton chemicals also pose a major health risk to workers and children in Uzbekistan, India and other high-production countries. EJF's "White Gold- The True Cost of Cotton" about cotton's impacts in Uzbekistan won the Environmental Activism & Social Justice Award at the 9th Annual Earth Vision International Environmental Film Festival in Santa Cruz, CA this month.
3/29/2009
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