Environment Archives - Page 63 of 127 - Foreign Policy In Focus

Charting a Progressive International Financial Agenda

by Daniel D. Bradlow, Emily Schwartz Greco | Dec 8, 2008

The international financial crisis has shaken the self-confidence of the managers of the international financial system. Their frantic efforts to prop up the global financial system and stimulate national economies are noteworthy, not only for the magnitude of the funds they are throwing at the problem but also for demonstrating they don’t seem to fully understand the system that they created. Their confusion is producing the best opportunity in 60 years to create a more socially and environmentally responsible international financial order.

Drawing the Future From the Past

by Channapha Khamvongsa | Dec 6, 2008

Since the end to the U.S. wars in Southeast Asia, many other wars have been waged, in other parts of the world, in new terrain, villages, and communities. Yet, the wars in Southeast Asia lingers.

Big Oil’s Last Stand

by Antonia Juhasz, Emily Schwartz Greco | Oct 22, 2008

Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from the introduction to The Tyranny of Oil: the World’s Most Powerful Industry, and What We Must Do To Stop It (William Morrow 2008). Within days of the New Year, 2008 began with three landmark events. Oil reached $100 per barrel for only the second time in history as […]

The Crisis and the Environment

by John Feffer, Michael Klare | Oct 17, 2008

Given the magnitude and scope of the current economic crisis, the world will no doubt experience a significant economic downturn — of what degree and duration, no one can say — profoundly affecting all aspects of U.S. and international society. Of the many areas that will be impacted by the downturn, the environment stands out in particular. It’s closely tied to the tempo of resource consumption, and significant efforts to ameliorate environmental decline will prove very expensive and out of reach for already-stretched budgets. The question thus arises: Will the crisis be good or bad for the environment, especially with respect to global warming?

A Memo to the Next President: Think Globally

by Emira Woods | Oct 9, 2008

With a global economic slowdown and a deepening food crisis, the biggest foreign policy priority for the next President must be building a global economy that benefits poor and working families in the United States and around the world.

Mexico’s Oil Referendum

by Manuel Perez-Rocha, Emily Schwartz Greco | Aug 6, 2008

Mexico is engaged in one of the most pivotal debates in its modern history: the future of its oil industry. The question is whether oil operations should remain in state hands or be privatized. Mexico exported 1.1 million barrels of oil per day to the United States in 2007, making it the third-largest supplier of oil to the United States, after Canada and Saudi Arabia. Yet the U.S. media has paid scant attention to the debate over what will happen with Mexico’s most important industry.

Derail Doha, Save the Climate

by Walden Bello, Emily Schwartz Greco | Jul 28, 2008

There’s something surreal about the ongoing World Trade Organization talks in Geneva, which aim at coming up with a new agreement to bring down tariffs in order to expand world trade and resuscitate global growth. In the face of the looming specter of climate change, these negotiations amount to arguing over the arrangement of deck chairs while the Titanic is sinking.

The Anti-Climate Summit

by Walden Bello, John Feffer | Jul 15, 2008

While drafting the so-called Bali Roadmap during the UN Conference on climate change last December, delegates faced a painful choice. They could specifically mention the necessity of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 25-40% by 2020 and face the possibility of a U.S. walkout from the negotiations. Or they could drop all mention of targets to keep Washington in the negotiations – and risk of the United States fatally obstructing the process of coming up with a tough regime of mandatory emissions cuts that would have to be in place by the UN’s climate meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009.

Nuclear Recycling Fails the Test

by Robert Alvarez, Miriam Pemberton | Jul 2, 2008

Over the past few years, attention to the recycling of nuclear power spent fuel has grown. Fears of global warming due to fossil fuel burning have given nuclear energy a boost; over the next 15 years dozens of new power reactors are planned world-wide. To promote nuclear energy, the Bush administration is seeking to establish international spent nuclear fuel recycling centers that are supposed to reduce wastes, recycle uranium, and convert nuclear explosive materials, such as plutonium to less troublesome elements in advanced power reactors.

The Commodities Bubble

by Sameer Dossani, Emily Schwartz Greco | Jun 27, 2008

For those following economic trends, the past 18 months are notable primarily for two reasons. First, the U.S. housing market, long seen as overvalued by alternative economists and even powerful economic institutions including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), finally went from boom to bust. Over the span of a few months, housing in some markets depreciated by as much as 30%, and some economists estimate that losses may ultimately reduce value by as much as 50% in some cities.