(January 29, 2010) Next to air pollution, water scarcity looms as one of China’s largest environmental disasters. Beijing consumes more water annually than its water resources combined, according to the Chinese Statistical Yearbook 2007. Without intervention, the city will face a massive shortage.
Behind the Red Curtain: Environmental Concerns and the End of Communism
(February 1, 2010) With the environment in such a problematic state, and structural and ideological problems precluding effective responses within a Communist system, it would have been remarkable if environmental problems did not play a major role in bringing down the system.
Haiti heads for debt crisis as emergency loans pile up earthquake
(January 31, 2010) Anti-poverty campaigners warn emergency funds loaded to Haiti, at the height of crisis, will become a heavy debt burden for the quake devastated country. Already caught in a cycle of repayment for loans racked up by dictators from the western governments that kept the country’s looters in power, Haiti can’t afford its future in the present form of help.
IMF Proposes $100 Billion ‘Green Fund’
(January 30, 2010) The IMF won’t allow its climate change plans to be sidetracked by a lack of scientific consensus or domestic political will.
Another foreign aid critic says there is a better way
(January 29, 2010) Brian Griffiths, an international adviser for Goldman Sachs, is another voice in what is quickly becoming a chorus of foreign aid critics that are heralding the use of private markets and funds as way to promote economic growth on the African continent. In a recent lecture at Oxford University, Griffiths said churches already working in Africa should help promote businesses and markets in countries across the continent.
Breathe of fresh air: banks pull out of carbon market
(Jaunary 28, 2010) Banks and other investors are pulling out of the carbon market after government leaders at last month’s meeting in Copenhagen failed to come up with new emissions targets beyond the current Kyoto Treaty, which ends in 2012. According to a recent report in the UK Guardian, a number of carbon fianciers have already begun leaving banks in London due to a lack of activity and a pull-back in investment demand.
Sturgeon farms cleared from Three Gorges Dam area for navigation safety
(January 28, 2010) Sturgeon farmers in the Three Gorges area of China’s Yangtze River are dismantling their fish tanks in order to keep navigation channels safe and clear.
Rule of law meets the Three Gorges dam
(January 27, 2010) Ren XingHui, a Beijing resident, has made headlines in the Chinese Internet press by using the country’s new disclosure law to request information about government funding of the Three Gorges dam.
Beijing resident sues the Ministry of Finance, requiring the disclosure of the Three Gorges dam cost
(January 26, 2010) Last year, Ren XingHui, a citizen of Beijing, submitted an application to the Ministry of Finance for the public disclosure of the Three Gorges dam cost but was rejected. Yesterday, Ren XingHui filed a law suit against the Ministry of Finance in Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court.
Patagonia’s peril
(January 25, 2010) With its glacier-carved peaks and fjords, southern Chile remains one of the wildest places on Earth. But that could soon change.
The betrayal of Haiti
(January 22, 2010) Beyond the recent earthquake, there is another crisis at the heart of Haiti. Author Gerald Caplan calls the island state the perfect Carribbean example of a historic collusion between despots and Western donors, overseen by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, to “enrich themselves at the expense of the people.”
Three Gorges pushes another 300,000 off their land, surprises nobody
(January 21, 2010) The Chinese government is preparing to push another 300,000 residents living near the Three Gorges dam off their land to make way for what officials are calling an “eco-screen, or buffer belt.”
To help Haiti, end foreign aid
(January 19, 2010) For Haiti, just about every conceivable aid scheme beyond immediate humanitarian relief will lead to more poverty, more corruption and less institutional capacity, says Bret Stephens, writing in the Wall Street Journal. After the immediate impact of the earthquake has passed, and the immediate relief efforts subside, “the arrival of the soldiers of do-goodness, each with his brilliant plan to save Haitians from themselves” will take root.
Optimizing ecosystem services in China
(November 7, 2008) With the Three Gorges Dam’s flood level, former cities, homes, and farm fields of about 1.5 million people will be seasonally under water, and a set of new unique ecosystems will develop. The extent of the impact of this unprecedented amount of wetland underwater,the potential ecological systems that will result on the borders of this reservoir, and possible approaches to minimize the impacts or enhance ecological services are mostly unknown.
What was going on in Haiti prior to the earthquake?
(January 17, 2010) Between 45,000-50,000 may have died in the impoverished country of Haiti according to the American Red Cross as a result of the earthquake that shook Port-Au-Prince and surrounding areas on January 12, 2010. A hospital collapses, the President’s palace is left in ruins, and many homes in shambles. Haitians bloodied from the devistation have walked away with tears in their eyes while others lay on the ground struggling to live or dead. This is what we see on the surface, but what is really going on behind the scenes of this catastrophe? What events were ongoing in Haiti prior to the earthquake?
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
Lisa Peryman
Probe Media
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