Latest Articles
-
A follow-up
My last article made the point that in fighting climate chaos, only a refundable carbon tax, one that returns revenues directly to the population, mitigates regressivity in way that benefits those hit hardest by such a tax.
It concludes by pointing out that just about everyone who pays serious attention to the problem of climate chaos concludes that carbon taxes or cap and trade systems -- methods of putting a price on carbon -- cannot by themselves solve the problem. This post will explore in a bit more detail what additional measures can help reduce emissions.
We could institute rule-based regulations in the following areas:
-
What would we do if bikers’ lives were worth as much as auto convenience?
Great idea for a new law: Spouses and children of all traffic engineers must travel on the streets planned by their loved ones using a bike at least 50 percent of the time.
What would happen then? Probably this.
-
Implications of the last organic latte
Fair Trade producers in Mexico depend heavily on organic certification to reap price premiums for both labels, and will be hurt on more than one front by the recently released USDA rule requiring them to change certification practices, researchers say. In a recent article in Salon, later followed by a post on Gristmill, Samuel Fromartz detailed the consequences of a USDA ruling that would force a radical change in the way grower groups in the global South certify their products. The USDA ruling, Fromartz writes:
[T]ightens organic certification requirements to such a degree that it could sharply curtail the ability of small grower co-ops to produce organic coffee -- not to mention organic bananas, cocoa, sugar and even spices.
In his blog on the subject, Fromartz says he only hit the tip of the iceberg. So I hunted around a bit, seeking to find out more about how the ruling would impact producers in developing nations. I contacted Aimee Shreck and Christy Getz, two researchers who have published on organic and Fair Trade in developing nations. And notably, I got in touch with Tad Mutersbaugh, a professor of geography at the University of Kansas. Mutersbaugh's research focuses on international certification standards, and he's worked with organic and Fair Trade certified grower groups in Oaxaca, Mexico. He was familiar with the recent USDA ruling, and expressed his concern about the implications the ruling would have for small farmers in organic and Fair Trade grower groups.
-
-
Another conservative attack on motives
I’m always excited when people on the right address climate change, even if they say stupid things. At least they’re starting to think about it. On National Review, Ken Green of AEI says that Gore’s carbon tax proposal is great, but the rest of his proposals are both redundant and sucky. After listing them, he […]
-
Good interview on climate change
Good interview with Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-Md.) in Foreign Policy in Focus this week. Gilchrest, chair of the House Climate Change Caucus and co-sponsor of the Climate Stewardship Act, was not appointed to the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming last month because he refused to deny that humans are causing climate change. […]
-
Check it out
The Christian Science Monitor has always had excellent environmental coverage, but now they’ve gone above and beyond by creating an entire website devoted to global warming. It’s great one-stop shopping for the latest news. Speaking of, check out “Many new constraints for Bush on the environment,” a delightful rundown of all the setbacks and humiliations […]
-
Marian Devil Just Doesn’t Have the Same Ring
Legendary Tasmanian devil faces relocation or extinction Australia is working to save the Tasmanian devil from extinction. Plagued by a contagious cancer, the carnivorous marsupial is dying out on its eponymous island. Scientists have sent nearly 50 of the beasts to zoos and want to move 30 more to nearby Maria Island, a former prison […]
-
Heads You Lose, Tails I Win
World Bank has been OKing illegal logging in the Congo, says Greenpeace study You’ve probably developed an immunity to scandal and outrage, but we’ll keep plying you with it anyway: a two-year study by Greenpeace International has found that in the past three years, Congolese village chiefs have handed over vast expanses of the world’s […]
-
He Covers the Hotter Front
Schwarzenegger says sexy greens are successful — and he should know In a speech at Georgetown University yesterday, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said environmentalists need to get hip and sexy to counter their image as “prohibitionists at a fraternity party.” Brandishing a batch of recent green-themed magazines — some featuring his mug on the cover […]
