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| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
At Least He'll Be Better Than Ours
Brazil swears in new environment minister |
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28 May 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 3:01 PM on 28 May 2008 Carlos Minc was sworn in as Brazil's environment minister on Tuesday. Minc succeeds Marina Silva, who quit after six years of uphill battling to protect the Amazon rainforest from development. Greens are cautiously optimistic about Minc, who was a founder of Brazil's Green Party, a former environment secretary in the state of Rio de Janeiro, and one of 500 winners of a 1989 United Natio ... |
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| Topics: Amazon, Brazil, international politics, news, politics, rainforests (all these topics) |
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Oil geopolitics in 30 seconds
Stratfor breaks it down |
David Roberts |
28 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Interesting stuff over on Stratfor about the 'Geopolitics of $130 oil.' The short story is: The U.S. is hit, but not too hard, given its transition from manufacturing to services. China gets the worst of it by far -- it lives by manufacturing but it's forced to hold prices down to avoid unrest, so it's 'squeezing profits out of exports.' Russia's stock is way, way up, as it's sitting on big reserves of both oil and gas and foreign currency. Saudi Arabia is sitting p ... |
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| Topics: energy, international politics, oil, politics (all these topics) |
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For on the Floor
Nations meet to hash out claims to Arctic seafloor |
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27 May 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 8:47 AM on 27 May 2008 What with climate change melting record amounts of Arctic ice, the five nations that claim land rights in the Arctic region have been rushing to stake claim to the minerals and oil wealth beneath the Arctic Ocean. Starting Tuesday, Denmark is hosting talks among the five countries, aiming to bring a measure of civility to the Arctic's predicted black-gold rush. One item that Denmark hopes the ot ... |
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| Topics: climate, international politics, news, oil, oil and gas drilling, politics (all these topics) |
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A Cut Below
G8 nations agree on the need to agree on emission cuts |
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27 May 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 6:19 AM on 27 May 2008 A three-day meeting of G8 environment ministers in Japan this weekend concluded with a familiar call for nations to agree on goals to cut emissions. The sentiment was formalized in a statement citing "strong political will" among G8 countries to agree to cut emissions by 50 percent by 2050 when they convene at the full G8 summit in Toyako, Japan, in July. "As we head toward the Toy ... |
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| Topics: climate, G8, international politics, news, politics (all these topics) |
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Silva Buckle
Brazil's pro-rainforest environment minister resigns |
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13 May 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 4:05 PM on 13 May 2008 Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva resigned Tuesday after six years in office, leading a Greenpeace campaigner to lament that "Brazil is losing the only voice in the government that spoke out for the environment." Silva's policies prioritized environmental protection, particularly for the Amazon; while her policies landed her a spot as one of Grist's fave green politicians, they ... |
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| Topics: Amazon, Brazil, international politics, news, politics, rainforests (all these topics) |
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Loving the 'stache
Tom Friedman on the need to invest in infrastructure and revitalize the U.S. |
Jon Rynn |
09 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Sometimes Tom Friedman drives me crazy, but he often has a good nugget hidden in the middle of his columns, like this one last Sunday: A few weeks ago, my wife and I flew from New York's Kennedy Airport to Singapore. In J.F.K.'s waiting lounge we could barely find a place to sit. Eighteen hours later, we landed at Singapore's ultramodern airport, with free Internet portals and children's play zones throughout. We felt, as we have before, like we had just flown from the Fli ... |
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| Topics: air travel, Germany, international politics, politics, Singapore (all these topics) |
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Portrait of an oil-addicted former superpower
How rising oil prices are obliterating America's superpower status |
Guest author |
08 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The following is a guest essay from Michael T. Klare, author of the new book Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet. It was originally published on Tom's Dispatch, which has graciously permitted us to use it here. ----- Nineteen years ago, the fall of the Berlin Wall effectively eliminated the Soviet Union as the world's other superpower. Yes, the USSR as a political entity stumbled on for another two years, but it was clearly an ex-superpower from the moment it lost co ... |
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| Topics: energy, international politics, oil, politics, Russia (all these topics) |
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Ducks per gallon
Tar sands are hardly 'environmentally responsible' |
Josh Dorner |
02 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Alberta's tar sands got yet another huge black eye this week when as many as 500 ducks died after simply landing on a giant pond full of highly toxic oil sands tailings. Only five were said to have survived their toxic plunge. A member of a Canadian environmental watchdog group described the water found in the ponds as follows: Drinking a glass of water from a tailings pond would be like drinking a diluted glass of oil or gasoline. Whether the bitumen is cooked ... |
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| Topics: Alberta, animal welfare, energy, environmental movement, international politics, oil sands, politics (all these topics) |
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Thought of the day: American foreign policy
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Gar Lipow |
24 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| U.S. foreign policy is extremely opposed to big government. In fact, our rulers will spend huge amounts of taxpayer dollars trying to stir up military coups to impose dictatorships in any countries who try to institute more big government than we approve of.Alternate title: why Haitian children are eating mud. |
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| Topics: politics, international politics (all these topics) |
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We'll Always Have Paris
Meeting of major economies ends with little progress |
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18 Apr 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 2:42 PM on 18 Apr 2008 A U.S.-led gathering of major economies in Paris this week concluded, as previous meetings have done, with little progress. The 17 countries bashed President Bush's climate speech for a while, then argued about whether to set a goal of halving global greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050. (Guess who's against it?) French president Nicolas Sarkozy made himself quoteworthy, saying that climate ... |
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| Topics: business, climate, international politics, news, politics (all these topics) |
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Sneak peek at Time's cover story
Mag's green issue exalts cap-and-trade |
Joseph Romm |
17 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I now seem to be on some media distribution list to gin up early PR. Green publicists of the world, bring it on! Here are links to key stories (plus some summaries, from Time): This Week's Cover Features a Green Border -- Only the Second Issue in TIME's 85-Year History Without the Trademarked Red Border (New York, April 17, 2008) -- In this week's issue, TIME managing editor Richard Stengel writes in his Letter to Readers, 'This is our latest environment ... |
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| Topics: carbon trading, climate, climate change mitigation, energy, international politics, magazines, politics (all these topics) |
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A Jolly Good Time
British prime minister chats climate with Bush |
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17 Apr 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 3:25 PM on 17 Apr 2008 British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was in Washington, D.C., Thursday to sit down for a chit-chat with President Bush. Brown told press that he and Bush "agreed we must work internationally to secure progress at the G8 and toward a post-Kyoto deal on climate change. ... I look forward to continuing to work with President Bush and his administration in taking it forward." (Taking what forw ... |
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| Topics: biofuels, climate, George Bush, Gordon Brown, international politics, news, politics, presidential race 08, United Kingdom (all these topics) |
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You know who rocks?
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David Roberts |
10 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Majora Carter rocks. |
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| Topics: China, heroes, hotties, international politics, Olympics, politics, sports (all these topics) |
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What would Edward Abbey do?
Bush administration ignoring environmental laws, building border wall anyway |
Glenn Hurowitz |
02 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Ocelot. Photo: Andrew Nicholson Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced yesterday that he will use authority Congress gave him to waive all environmental laws that will impede construction of 670 miles of border wall between the United States and Mexico. The wall threatens the rare wildlife of the Southwest like ocelots, jaguars, jaguarundis, and others with extinction because it will prevent animals from reaching breeding populations in Me ... |
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| Topics: animal welfare, extinction, international politics, jackassery, Mexico, politics, Sierra Club, wildlife (all these topics) |
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Notable quotable(s)
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David Roberts |
26 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| 'I am convinced that if we work at it, we will be able to convince India and China that it is in their interest to be part of a global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.' -- John McCain, March 2008 'One of the things I would do if I were President would be to sit the Shiites and the Sunnis down and say, 'Stop the bullshit.'' -- John McCain, May 2006 |
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| Topics: international politics, John McCain, politics, presidential race 08, quotables (all these topics) |
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Why a climate bill in 2008? Part III
The world is waiting for us to lead the way |
Tony Kreindler |
18 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This is the third in a series on why we should push for climate legislation this year. See also Part I and Part II. Why push for a climate bill in 2008? I've already offered some reasons in my previous posts: the politics will be much the same in 2009 (Okay, David offered that one), we don't want to squander the current momentum, and in any case, we simply can't afford to wait. But if those aren't reason enough, here's another: The world is waiting for u ... |
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| Topics: climate, international politics, Kyoto Protocol, legislation, politics (all these topics) |
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G20 Questions
G20 climate meeting ends, accomplishing nothing |
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17 Mar 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 2:31 PM on 17 Mar 2008 In case you've been wondering what happened at this weekend's gathering of the G20 biggest-polluting countries, the answer is: pretty much nothing. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair formally announced his goal to eke out a meaningful climate agreement, and declared, "We have reached the critical moment of decision on climate change. There are few, if any, genuine doubters left." There ... |
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| Topics: climate, international politics, news, politics (all these topics) |
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Other carbon tax shifts
A quick survey of carbon taxes outside of Cascadia |
Alan Durning |
12 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| British Columbia's bombshell announcement of a carbon tax shift last month made me want some context. Here's a rundown of other carbon taxes elsewhere in the world. As I noted, none of them is as consistent and comprehensive as B.C.'s, though some do have higher tax rates. In most cases, these levies came in tax shifts that reduced payroll taxes, business taxes, or other energy taxes. B.C.'s starts at $10.10 per metric ton of CO2 equivalent and rises in steps to $30.30 ... |
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| Topics: British Columbia, Canada, carbon tax, climate, climate change mitigation, greenhouse-gas emissions, international politics, politics (all these topics) |
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How can we make the war in Iraq more eco-friendly?
The Onion with another masterful satire |
Sarah K. Burkhalter |
07 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Oh, Onion. You make me laugh and want to cry: In The Know: How Can We Make The War In Iraq More Eco-Friendly? |
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| Topics: funnies, George Bush, international politics, Iraq, politics (all these topics) |
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Border wall brings peace in the Middle East
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David Roberts |
04 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Fighting the border wall, that is. |
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| Topics: international politics, Israel, Palestine, politics (all these topics) |
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The natural resource curse is such a bitch
Oil and the status of women in the Middle East |
Nathan Wyeth |
03 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I'm not sure this falls under my 'campus news' beat for Grist, but I heard it at a seminar at a college campus, and it's compelling enough that I'm going to say that because it falls within academia, it counts. Michael Ross is a political scientist at UCLA who was published in the February 2008 American Political Science Review with the assertion (PDF) that much of the gender inequality in the Middle East relative to the rest of the world can be explained not by tradi ... |
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| Topics: Africa, energy, environmental justice, international politics, Middle East, oil, politics (all these topics) |
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Ready to Barack and Roll
Obama says will move immediately on international climate pact |
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11 Feb 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 5:05 PM on 11 Feb 2008 Prior to his weekend wins in Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Barack Obama promised to begin developing the U.S. position on an international pact to halt global warming now, instead of waiting until 2009. "I've been in conversations with former Vice President [Al] Gore repeatedly, and his recommendation, which I think is sound, is that you c ... |
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| Topics: Barack Obama, climate, climate change mitigation, elections, international politics, news, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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Masdar
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David Roberts |
05 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I know you can never bank on these things until they're completed, but if this goes as planned it sure will be righteously cool: Groundbreaking is scheduled for Saturday for Masdar City, a nearly self-contained mini-municipality designed for up to 50,000 people rising from the desert next to Abu Dhabi's international airport and intended as a hub for academic and corporate research on nonpolluting energy technologies. The 2.3-square-mile community, set behin ... |
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| Topics: energy, international politics, politics, renewable energy, solar voltaic power, United Arab Emirates (all these topics) |
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Global warring redux
New report compares military and climate spending |
David Roberts |
31 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The Institute for Policy Studies has a new Foreign Policy in Focus report out: "The Budget Compared: Military vs. Climate Security." As you'd expect from the name, it's a close look at how federal dollars are allocated for military vs. climate protection, and as you'd expect from, you know, being awake, there's an enormous disparity. It's pretty astonishing nonetheless. Here are the reports major findings: FINDING: For every dollar allocated for sta ... |
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| Topics: climate, international politics, national security, politics (all these topics) |
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Take Me Down to Paradise City
U.S. sets low expectations for this week's climate meeting |
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28 Jan 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 10:13 AM on 28 Jan 2008 Leaders from the world's major economies will fly big planes to Honolulu this week for a chat about reducing global greenhouse-gas emissions. Ironicalicious! Even better, the Bush administration, which is hosting the meeting, isn't expecting much out of it. "I think these will be iterative discussions, which the initial goal will be to lay out a variety of options witho ... |
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| Topics: climate, international politics, news, politics (all these topics) |
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