(February 16, 2011) In a February 14th National Post article, author Dan Gardner argued that ‘command and control’ environmental regulations should be replaced with a cap and trade system. But as Probe International Executive Director Patricia Adams points out, cap and trade is just another varient of the ‘command and control’ approach that Mr. Gardner claims to oppose. Below is her response in today’s National Post.
Kenyans to protest Chinese involvement in Ethiopia’s Gibe III Dam
(February 16, 2011) Members of the civil society and other concerned individuals will on Sunday, 20 February 2011 stage a peaceful protest march to petition the Chinese government against the involvement of several Chinese companies in the ongoing construction of the controversial and potentially devastating Ethiopian Gilgel Gibe III mega-dam.
Deep Green: Debt, Human Rights and Nature
(February 16, 2011) In January, the bankers and corporate executives at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, presented a plan to create $100 trillion US dollars (about €700 billion or ¥7 trillion) in new international debt.
Lagos eyes financial boom from climate doom
(February 14, 2011) The article from the Daily Independent in Nigeria explains how governments can profit from the panic over climate change.
Vietnam, Laos cooperate in building hydro-electric power plant
(February 12, 2011) Vietnam and Laos have signed a project on building two hydro-electric power plants, namely Xekaman 1 and Xekamn Xanxay in the Lao province of Attapeu, about 75km from Vietnam.
China bids to ease drought with $1bn emergency water aid
(February 11, 2011) The Chinese government plans to spend $1 billion to divert water, construct emergency wells and improve irrigation in an effort to “head off a destabilising level of stress over water.” Current drought conditions are the worst that China has seen in 60 years.
Pollution fear cancels Beijing power plant plan
(February 11, 2011) According to Chinese official state media, plans to build a power plant near Beijing have been halted over environmental concerns. The plant would have been one kilometer from a canal that diverts water into drought stricken Beijing.
Prominent Chinese activist and wife beaten
(February 11, 2011) According to CNN, blind Chinese human rights activist Chen Guangcheng and his wife have been beaten and placed under house arrest. Chen had only recently completed a four year prison sentence for publicly criticizing government policies. Chen has been a prominent human rights activist since 1998, when he organized protests against water pollution from a local factory in Yinan County.
Is hydropower exploitation of the Nu river in China ‘a must’?
(February 10, 2011) Meng Si of China Dialogue wrote in today’s Guardian that damming the Nu River in an attempt to reduce emissions will devastate the local environment. Below is an excerpt, and link to the full story.
Ecologists dread new dam boom
(February 10, 2011) Global Times recounts the dangers of dam building that ecologists have been warning about for years.
International aid’s ‘dirty secret’
(February 10, 2011) Images from the protests in Egypt have put the relationship between funding security and development in the spotlight
UK nets €1bn in carbon permit auctions
(February 10, 2011) Revenues could bring in billions for the government each year, which campaigners say should fund green projects.
Razing the Last Refuge
(February 10, 2011) Just before the Chinese New Year, Beijing-based non-profit group Friends of Nature wrote an open letter to members of China’s top government bodies – the National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference – calling on them to urgently examine proposed changes to the boundaries of a national rare fish reserve on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
Carbon Credit Watch: First credits for ‘forestry preservation’ cashed in; Philippines argues nuclear power should also qualify
(February 9, 2011) A Kenyan company has become the first recipient of Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) credits. Meanwhile, the Government of the Philippines argues that carbon credits should be issued for nuclear power.
China Dialogue: Raizing the last refuge
(February 9, 2011) Han Ziyu at China Dialogue reports that the Chinese Government is downscaling a reserve for rare fish. Below is an excerpt, and link to the full article at China Dialogue.
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