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Vietnam May Revisit Two-Child Population Policy

By Robert Engelman / On December 18th, 2008
The government of Vietnam will decide on December 22 whether to penalize parents who have more than two children, reinitiating a coercive population policy it abandoned in 2003. "We are considering an adjustment to our policy appropriate to the circumstances of the country," Truong Thi Mai, chair of Vietnam's Parliamentary Committee of Social Affairs, confirmed on Saturday. "The Parliament Standing Committee will decide the week after next."
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Out of sight, out of time?

By David Wilcove / On December 11th, 2008
Here's a quiz for the birdwatchers out there: Which country has experienced the greatest loss of bird species over the past quarter century? (And by "greatest loss," I mean global extinctions). The answer is not Brazil, Indonesia, Colombia, or some other developing country—it's the United States. By my calculation, nine species of birds have vanished from the US since 1980 (see Wilcove, D.S. 2005. "Rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker." Science 308: 1422-1423), by far the largest number of any nation during this time period.
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Time to break the low-meat barrier

By Ann Vileisis / On December 10th, 2008
At climate talks in Poland last week, delegates considered the issue of farm emissions. Globally farm animals generate 18 percent of greenhouse gasses—that's more than cars, planes, and buses. According to The New York Times ("As more eat meat, a bid to cut emissions"), delegates considered some technological solutions, such as converting waste methane gas into an energy source. This elegant approach has already shown great promise.
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The Crash, Peak Oil and Resilient Cities

By Peter Newman / On December 9th, 2008
How did the crash happen? Over-inflating the economic balloon with debt that was vulnerable to rises in oil price. What do we do about it? Use non-oil-based projects and approaches to generate economic growth or else we are going to make things worse. In detail....
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Urban areas as opportunity for innovation

By Walker Wells / On December 4th, 2008
green: environmentally sound or beneficial urbanism: the practice of creating human communities Green Urbanism: the practice of creating communities beneficial to humans and the environment
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Young Farmer on the Rise

By Ann Vileisis / On December 3rd, 2008
In my recent book Kitchen Literacy, I concluded by urging readers to learn where their food comes from and how it is raised. In developing my own "kitchen literacy," I've enjoyed getting to know one of the farmers who grow the veggies I buy: Zöe Bradbury.
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Cities Must Adapt or Face Collapse

By Peter Newman / On December 2nd, 2008
In my first blog post, I suggested that we need to respond to the present economic crash in ways that do not undermine the basic cause of our dysfunctional global urban economy. The issues of peak oil and climate change are exposing the weakness of building our cities with growing car dependence.
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Thanksgiving, our quintessential local-food holiday

By Ann Vileisis / On November 26th, 2008
Of all our national holidays I've always loved Thanksgiving best. Aside from the fun of cooking and eating terrific food together, it's the only national holiday that hasn't degenerated into an entirely commercial affair. In fact, it even seems to recognize America's natural abundance. The story of Thanksgiving is fundamentally about our American relationship with the natural world.

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