climate change Archives - Page 29 of 67

The Cairo Detour

by fpifadmin | Dec 15, 2009

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

by John Feffer | Oct 21, 2009

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

by Miriam Pemberton | Jul 28, 2009

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

by Miriam Pemberton | Jul 16, 2009

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

by Emira Woods | Jul 10, 2009

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

by John Feffer, Saleemul Huq | May 18, 2009

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

by John Feffer, Emanuel Pastreich | Apr 23, 2009

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.

The Goldilocks Apocalypse

by John Feffer | Aug 20, 2008

Being a futurologist means never having to say you’re sorry. Our predictions always come true eventually — or, if they don’t, well, how quickly people forget. Look at Newsweek’s George Will. He predicted that the Berlin Wall would endure, and in an article published on the very day in 1989 that the Germans were tearing it down. That should have been enough to revoke his futurology license and demote him to sports writing. But no, almost three decades later he’s still peering into his crystal ball.

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.

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.