What U.S. Municipalities Can Learn From San Francisco's Urban Farming Movement
By Admin / On December 16th, 2010
This is an excerpt of Francesca Vietor, president of The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
A Moment in Climate History: Al Gore brushes aside the climate-skeptic movement
By Admin / On December 7th, 2010
Excerpt from Randy Olson's blog, The Benshi
Given the sad, flaccid atmosphere lingering around the Cancun climate talks this week (Andy Revkin tells about how the Japanese, who once upon a time hosted the Kyoto meeting that started things, are now the biggest party poopers) it seems like a bad time to talk critically of Al Gore’s effort, but this stuff is important so I ask you to keep your mind open.
Fiji Water: Where bottled water, money, and ethics conflict
By Peter Gleick / On November 30th, 2010
Fiji Water, one of the world's most well-promoted brands of bottled water, is also one of the most secretive and private. Owned by Lynda and Stewart Resnick, the increasingly controversial Southern California billionaires, Fiji Water is a symbol of both the bad and the good in the world of bottled water.
History Lesson: Solutions for the Sea
By Admin / On November 29th, 2010
Marine protected areas have made international headlines in the past week as Oregon moved closer to approving three reserves and Australia delayed plans for establishing coastal marine parks.
Three marine experts and Island Press authors, Steve Palumbi, Carolyn Sotka, and Callum Roberts, have long championed reserves as critical for the health of the oceans.
200 People Per Shoe - Making Nike footwear in Tangerang, Indonesia
By Elizabeth Grossman / On November 17th, 2010
Excerpt from Elizabeth Grossman's blog, The Pump Handle.
From Temples to Office Towers in Kunming
By R. Edward Grumbine / On November 3rd, 2010
The Bamboo Temple is one of the major Buddhist shrines in Kunming. Built in the 13th century, restored in 1890, and is set high above the city surrounded by native forest and plantation. The temple is well cared for unlike some I have visited in China. Like all such sites, it is heavily visited by tourists as well as active religious practitioners. Two ancient cypress trees (said to be 450 years old) guard the entrance and carefully manicured magnolias and pear trees grace the inner courtyard.
In the Mountains of Yunnan
By R. Edward Grumbine / On October 25th, 2010
Living in Kunming has its benefits:-great food; friendly people; helpful colleagues; and stimulating work. But for a city of its size, there is precious little public open space and I have yet to discover any place where one can walk on dirt or grass more than a few meters at a stretch. After two months in town, it was time to get out into the mountains.
Wolves and the Ecology of Fear in Action
By Cristina Eisenberg / On October 13th, 2010
Recently, I spent time with a friend in a northern part of the Rockies with thriving wolf population. My friend was skeptical about how wolves affect ecosystems—was—because an event that morning rapidly changed his mind.
Counting People and Cars in China's Capital
By R. Edward Grumbine / On October 8th, 2010
Before I left for my year in China, I took a few minutes one afternoon to fill out the federal census form that was delivered to my house. Many Americans may complain about such an “onerous” exercise, but most citizens understand the importance of being counted. Election districts, political representation in the Congress, and federal subsidies are but three of the reasons to support the census.
Load Shedding or Load Sharing?
By R. Edward Grumbine / On September 28th, 2010
During a trip last week to Nepal to attend a workshop on climate change adaptation strategies across the Himalaya, I experienced darkness within darkness for several hours every night. I am not talking about visiting one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, though poverty and political dysfunction are part of the darkness I mean to describe. The dim conditions I am referring to are both figurative and literal; each night Nepal undergoes “load shedding,” the governments preferred euphemism for what I have always known as a power outage.