Call it guilt money, a long-overdue environmental debt payback, or a smart investment in a hurting planet. Whatever it’s called, climate-change repair funds are on the way.
Will Cash Cool the Planet?
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climate change
Postcard From…Copenhagen
Last weekend, women farmers from Africa and Latin America gave President Obama a message that he can’t afford to ignore. In a letter delivered to the president and U.S. negotiators in Copenhagen, the women argued that the poorest, most disenfranchised people in the world hold the key to resolving the biggest global challenge of our time.
Swiss Minarets: Only the Tip of the Iceberg
On November 29, a majority of the Swiss population decided to ban the construction of new minarets in their country. Many Muslim leaders and laypeople were “surprised” at the Swiss decision, viewing the decision as an aberration from Western ideals and voicing anti-Swiss criticisms in return. Turkish minister for EU Affairs and chief negotiator Egemen Bağış, for example, argued that Switzerland wouldn’t have taken this decision if it were an EU member. Yet the Swiss decision on minarets reflects a far deeper fear shared by thousands of people in Western Europe. Members of the Christian Democratic Union party in Germany, the Freedom Party in the Netherlands, and the Danish People’s Party have already applauded the decision.
The Cairo Detour
Six months ago, President Obama dazzled audiences from Cairo to Jakarta—and everywhere in between and beyond—with his call for a “new beginning” with the Muslim world. It came after the new president made a series of confidence-building statements, speeches, and diplomatic overtures with a consistent, sobering message: It is time for relations based on “mutual respect” and “mutual interest.” Obama declared at Cairo University that there “must be a sustained effort to listen to each other; to learn from each other; to respect one another; and to seek common ground.”
Our Choice: Control Carbon or Be Cooked
never much liked the idea of arms control. During the Cold War, we managed our nuclear arsenals rather than reduced them. We treated our nukes like huge, dangerous animals. We restricted their movements but gave them ample care and feeding. Until recently, getting rid of the animals altogether wasn’t part of the political agenda. After all, our leaders believed that these beasts were useful. They scared away the covetous neighbors.
Military vs. Climate Security: Mapping the Shift from the Bush Years to the Obama Era
The U.S. military now views the massive disruptions that will result from global warming, in the absence of concerted international action, as a likely precipitant of increased violent conflict around the world.
Mass Transit Helps Cut Global Warming and War
Two subway cars on Washington, D.C.’s Red Line — which I usually ride to work — recently collided. It was the worst accident in this subway’s history, killing nine D.C. residents and injuring scores of others. The National Transportation Safety Board’s advice to the local transit authority soon came to light: Replace older-model subway cars, including the ones that crashed. The NTSB had said this three years ago, but the transit authority hadn’t had the money to do it.
Media Briefing Booklet: Obama’s Trip to Ghana
Over the past decade, Africa’s status in U.S. national security policy has risen dramatically, for three main reasons: America’s growing dependence on Africa’s oil exports, Africa’s importance as a major battlefield in America’s “Global War on Terrorism,” and Africa’s central position in the global competition between America and China for economic and political power.
Bridging the Climate Change Gap
Since his inauguration in January, President Barack Obama has promised to take the problem of climate change seriously and step into a leadership role in the global negotiations. Congressional leadership on climate has also swelled to deliver domestic climate change legislation. But a "blind spot" seems to be emerging that may make it more difficult for the United States to play the leadership role it wishes — and the world needs it — to play.
The Language of Climate Change
Many think tanks and NGOs in the United States and Europe — Sierra Club, Earthwatch, 1Sky — wield multimillion-dollar budgets with the aim of reducing environmental degradation and climate change on a global scale.