Stories Archive: January, 2008

The representatives of more than 100 countries attending December’s U.N. climate conference in Bali, Indonesia, finally focused on the important role tropical forests play in global warming.

The renewable energy tax credits expire at the end of 2008. 15 corporate green power buyers say these tax credits are absolutely critical, and are calling on Congress to renew them.

For the first time in its ten-year history, the National Environmental Appellate Authority* (NEAA) has overturned a decision by the Government of India, quashing an environmental clearance granted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

In a speech at Davos today, Bill Gates called for a more inclusive capitalism that “would have a twin mission: making profits and also improving lives for those who don’t fully benefit from market forces.” That is a major milestone in the evolving thinking of perhaps the most influential philanthropist of our time.

EMBARQ’s Lee Schipper talks on National Public Radio about the much-hyped Tata Nano, a 4-door car costing $2,500 that’s scheduled for release this year.

Over the last year I’ve been visiting cities around the world, studying their bus systems. My review includes many aspects ranging from the political and managerial environments that allowed the different bus systems to be implemented to the actual design of the systems themselves.

Border security is not typically recognized as being tied to environmental changes, but in this recent article by The New York Times, the links are clear. It details how declining fish catches in northwest Africa are fueling immigration to Europe.

A Right to Information request in India has revealed that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for a bauxite mining project in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, was copied at least in part from a Russian EIA for a bauxite mine.

Beijing Shenwu Thermal Energy Company, a once struggling small enterprise, is revolutionizing China’s industrial energy consumption by making it more efficient and cleaner.

A recent holiday visit brought home how global warming is already affecting the way we live—starting at the top of the world.

When my wife and I made our holiday plans this year, we decided for p

We are saddened to hear of the passing of Dr. Bert Bolin. Bert was a former WRI Director, a distinguished atmospheric scientist, and a warm and gentle man.

Current and former staff were saddened last week to hear of the passing of Wallace D. “Wally” Bowman, a conservation and environmental policy expert.

My team at WRI, together with Dr. Bob Diaz at the Virginia Marine Institute, has identified and mapped 415 eutrophic and hypoxic coastal systems worldwide through an extensive literature review. Of these, 169 are documented hypoxic areas, 233 are areas of concern and 13 are systems in recovery.