Kenyan blogger Juliana Rotich is the editor of Green Global Voices, which monitors citizen media in the developing world, and is a regular contributor to this page. Thomson Reuters is not responsible for the content - the views are the author’s alone.
Tim Hurst of Ecopoliticology blog posts an entertaining video titled ‘5 Green Obama Dreams’. The video mentions his posts on high resolution energy resource maps and the solar powered lawnmower.
On the DotEarth blog, Andrew Revkin muses on the significance of Obama’s election, writing…
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
How Obama Will Tackle the Environment
Yesterday, enviros were congratulating Obama on his victory. Now, they're looking ahead. Here's some post-election chatter:
—Grist wonders who will fill Obama's environmental cabinet positions. Some names being tossed about include Ed Rendell, Tom Vilsack, Bill Richardson, and Al Gore.
—Dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, Bill Chameides offers an open letter to Obama about the four most important environmental issues he'll face. They include: Stimulating low-carbon energies, retooling energy infrastructure, moving forward with global warming plans, and becoming an international leader on climate.
—The New York Times' Dot Earth is seeking the 10 best climate proposals, as determined by reader rankings. They will be sent to Obama's transition team. Send 'em in.
—Obama will send his own energy representatives to the UN's climate change talks in Poznam, Poland, in three weeks.
—Grist wonders who will fill Obama's environmental cabinet positions. Some names being tossed about include Ed Rendell, Tom Vilsack, Bill Richardson, and Al Gore.
—Dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, Bill Chameides offers an open letter to Obama about the four most important environmental issues he'll face. They include: Stimulating low-carbon energies, retooling energy infrastructure, moving forward with global warming plans, and becoming an international leader on climate.
—The New York Times' Dot Earth is seeking the 10 best climate proposals, as determined by reader rankings. They will be sent to Obama's transition team. Send 'em in.
—Obama will send his own energy representatives to the UN's climate change talks in Poznam, Poland, in three weeks.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Living Planet Report Details Dangers of Living beyond the Environment's Means
As global financial markets learn difficult lessons on the consequences of unregulated spending, a new report issued by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) warns of the danger to future prosperity if the reckless over-consumption of the Earth's natural capital is left unchecked.
WWF's Living Planet Report 2008, produced with the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the Global Footprint Network (GFN), shows more than three quarters of the world's people now living in nations that are ecological debtors, where national consumption has outstripped their country's biological capacity. Presently, human demands on the world's natural capital measure nearly a third more than earth can sustain. In addition, global natural wealth and diversity continue to decline, and more and more countries are slipping into a state of permanent or seasonal water stress.
WWF's Living Planet Report 2008, produced with the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the Global Footprint Network (GFN), shows more than three quarters of the world's people now living in nations that are ecological debtors, where national consumption has outstripped their country's biological capacity. Presently, human demands on the world's natural capital measure nearly a third more than earth can sustain. In addition, global natural wealth and diversity continue to decline, and more and more countries are slipping into a state of permanent or seasonal water stress.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Crisis could shift focus to environment
The financial crisis and its aftermath could help set the stage for the transformative changes urgently needed to help the planet sustain life, a distinguished U.S. environmentalist said yesterday.
The meltdown of financial markets galvanized governments and a concerned public watched as they acted in concert, adjusting their policies in response to emerging leadership, James Gustave (Gus) Speth said in an interview.
"The central role of government in regulating the economy and protecting people has certainly been confirmed - and dramatically confirmed - during this crisis," said the dean of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University.
The meltdown of financial markets galvanized governments and a concerned public watched as they acted in concert, adjusting their policies in response to emerging leadership, James Gustave (Gus) Speth said in an interview.
"The central role of government in regulating the economy and protecting people has certainly been confirmed - and dramatically confirmed - during this crisis," said the dean of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
The Economy Versus the Environment
Environmentalists are often accused — not always unfairly — of overplaying the fear card. With apocalyptic references to melting polar ice caps, rising sea levels and widespread species extinction, the driving message of environmentalism is that the future is doomed, unless we act now to save it.
But what happens when another more alarming, more immediate catastrophe co-opts people's fear? That's the predicament greens find themselves in now, with what is potentially the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression scaring Americans out of their wits. With the tanking economy dominating the news, and the government willing to virtually bankrupt itself to bail out the financial sector, it could be hard to push the climate change agenda — and possibly hard to find any money left to support it. "If this crisis consumes all of our attention, it might definitely impact the speed at which [global warming] legislation could be passed," says Wiley Barbour, the founder of the American Carbon Registry. (Listen to Barbour talk about the effect that the financial crisis will have on global warming action on this week's Greencast.)
But what happens when another more alarming, more immediate catastrophe co-opts people's fear? That's the predicament greens find themselves in now, with what is potentially the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression scaring Americans out of their wits. With the tanking economy dominating the news, and the government willing to virtually bankrupt itself to bail out the financial sector, it could be hard to push the climate change agenda — and possibly hard to find any money left to support it. "If this crisis consumes all of our attention, it might definitely impact the speed at which [global warming] legislation could be passed," says Wiley Barbour, the founder of the American Carbon Registry. (Listen to Barbour talk about the effect that the financial crisis will have on global warming action on this week's Greencast.)
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