Wednesday-Night

Flooding in eastern Bolivia.Credit:Franz Chávez/IPS
(IPS) SANTIAGO, Mar 13 (Tierramérica) - It is still difficult to predict the local impacts of the cyclic climate phenomenon known as La Niña, which has been responsible for catastrophic floods in Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and Argentina, and — on the other extreme — severe drought in Chile.
The death toll […]

Commercial and residential buildings have huge environmental impacts. It is estimated that, in the United States alone, commercial and residential buildings consume some 65 percent of all electricity generated, 12 percent of fresh water supplies and 40 percent of all raw materials, as well as contributing about one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions.
Green Building refers […]

March 12
While we scarcely agree with the all of the thoughts voiced in this article - not all biofuel production is bad - , the point is that the impact of the biofuel craze on world hunger could become devastating.
(The Ottawa Citizen) The poor pay the price
David Warren
A few weeks ago I wrote in […]

It seems we are stuck in a topic rut and not only in terms of frequency, quantity and quality of snowfall. The news appears to be same old - same old, with one outstanding exception (see below).
There are the U.S. economy (tanking) and the markets, which are looking for any excuse to rejoice and […]

Fibs, Frauds and Whoppers

How the debate over global warming ever became an angry partisan affair, I will never know. Somehow it has become a hard right talking point that global warming is […]

March 07, 2008
Green bill of rights cornerstone of environmental handbook
Mike De Souza, Canwest News Service
OTTAWA - A Canadian bill of green rights is one of the cornerstones of a new federal road map towards environmental sustainability and economic competitiveness, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s officials and opposition MPs were told Friday.
The message was delivered by leaders […]

March 07, 2008
Bad as it is today, the future looks worse in environmental study
Charles Mandel, Canwest News Service
In a major forthcoming report on Canada’s changing climate, scientists warn of everything from increased severe storm activity in Atlantic Canada to hotter summers and poorer air quality in urban Ontario.
British Columbia may face retreating glaciers and […]

March 5
Environmentalists win landmark Kearl Tar Sands lawsuit
Ecojustice lawyer Sean Nixon was in court in January on behalf of the Pembina Institute, Sierra Club of Canada, the Toxics Watch Society of Alberta and the Prairie Acid Rain Coalition.
“This is a huge victory,” said Nixon. “The Court accepted our position that the environmental assessment was flawed, […]

March 6 208 — Chakib Khelil, OPEC’s president this year, said at a meeting in Vienna that the high price of oil was not due to a lack of supplies. Instead, he cited the “mismanagement of the U.S. economy.”
President Fails to Budge OPEC on Production
Record prices are suddenly creating the sharpest tensions in years […]

How will economic and social developments drive environmental change to 2030? What policies are needed to address the main environmental challenges? How can OECD and non-OECD countries best work together to tackle these challenges?
The OECD Environmental Outlook to 2030 provides analyses of economic and environmental trends to 2030, and simulations of policy actions […]