Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
By John P. Holdren Published: August 4, 2008 The few climate-change "skeptics" with any sort of scientific credentials continue to receive attention in the media out of all proportion to their numbers, their qualifications, or the merit of their arguments. And this muddying of the waters of public discourse is …
The Massachusetts healthcare programme widely seen as a test case for universal health coverage in the US faces mounting opposition from doctors who say the reform is failing. More than 250 physicians in the state have signed an open letter warning that the healthcare plan, which was signed into law …
When Bill Barrett Corp, a small US natural gas producer, first went to Utah's Nine Mile Canyon in 2002 to begin drilling, it sought permission to drill fewer than 100 wells. But the price of natural gas has rocketed in the intervening years and now Bill Barrett is seeking approval …
Barack Obama and John McCain on Monday stepped up their increasingly tetchy exchange over high petrol prices, with Mr Obama accusing his rival of being in the "pocket of big oil' and Mr McCain accusing his opponent of hypocrisy. Mr Obama, whose opinion poll numbers have slid sharply since his …
BY JOHN CRAWLEY WASHINGTON An accelerating US consumer shift from sport utility vehicles and pickups to more fuel-efficient cars should reduce rollover, but safety experts worry a lighter fleet poses serious risks despite air bags, anticollision systems and other advances. "Shifting to smaller vehicles will make the problem worse,' said …
The WTO meeting has failed after the USA reportedly got into a deadlock with India and China over import rules for farm products. Nevertheless, there seems to be a consensus among the participants that increased trade can help ensure the world's food security. The opposition from India arises from the …
Over the past several decades, satellite surveillance with increasingly sophisticated instruments has enabled scientists to better visualize the complex fluctuations of several pollutants as they make their way around the Earth. One aspect of this research has focused on directly correlating satellite-observed concentrations of pollutants in the atmosphere with those …
Although much has been written separately about the direct toxicity of fossil fuel burning emissions and the broad effects of climate change on health [see, e.g., the recent series in Lancet on energy and health (e.g., Wilkinson et al. 2007)], rarely are they viewed together with a focus on the …
New reports have rung alarm bells over the net benefits of biofuels, particularly those produced in the Northern hemisphere from feedstocks that could also serve as food and are grown on agricultural land. Trade-related concerns are also becoming more prominent.
This paper describes ways to improve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) transportation and parking credits. Typical LEED programs reduce building energy consumption 20-60%. Cost effective mobility and parking management programs often provide similar motor vehicle trip and parking generation reductions, resulting in large economic, social and environmental benefits. …
Nuclear energy will enable India to meet the twin challenges of energy security and environmental sustainability. It will also have major spin-offs for the development of the industries, both public and private. The 123 Agreement between India and United States of America would put an end to technology denial regimes …
Climate adaptation is the process of adjusting to novel climate regimes, such as reducing water consumption to compensate for reduced precipitation rates, shifting the location of an industry away from an increasingly drought-prone area to a region that will be receiving higher flows, or altering urban stream morphology to allow …
This brief presents the key facts and recommendations drawn from chapters of The White House and the World: A Global Development Agenda for the Next U.S. President. The next president can secure a place in history by mobilizing America to confront climate change, while starting a clean energy revolution that …
While the precise contribution of biofuels to surging food prices is difficult to know, policies promoting production of the current generation of biofuels are not achieving their stated objectives of increased energy independence or reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Reaching the congressionally mandated goal of blending 15 billion gallons of renewable …
This paper presents the background and policy issues surrounding development of a commercial market for captured carbon dioxide, and seeks to foster among policymakers a deeper understanding of : both the generation and carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies involved, as well as their costs; the technical and regulatory barriers …
The Prime Minister has released India’s national action plan on climate change. For those engaged in the business of environment and climate, the plan may offer nothing new or radical. But, as I see it, the plan asserts India can grow differently, because “it is in an early stage of …
Scotland's smoking ban appears to have prevented hundreds of heart attacks in its first year, a study shows. The number of people admitted to the hospital for heart attacks fell by 17% in the year after Scotland's smoking ban took effect in March 2006, according to a study in today's …
