India
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Critical List: Congress does everything it can to screw the environment; fabric cleaned by sunlight
Congress voted to put sanctions on Iran, which would make it harder for Iran to sell oil, but potentially make oil sales more profitable for the regime overall. After all the work that the anti-Keystone coalition did, Republicans are trying to tack a measure to approve the pipeline onto a bill that extends the payroll […]
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Critical List: 74 percent of warming is human-made; Schwarzenegger takes on clean energy
A study quantified the share of climate change that can attributed to humans and found that at least 74 percent of warming is human-made. 2010 saw the biggest jump in carbon dioxide output, ever. The mission of Occupy Green/Red Chile is to keep the GM industry's hands off of New Mexico's peppers. Ah-nold doesn't think […]
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Anonymous vigilantes clean up Bangalore
The Indian city of Bangalore is not the cleanest, apparently. So a group of young Bangaloreans is cleaning up the city, a block at a time. And they're doing it anonymously. After a year of "spot-fixing," the group — they call themselves the "Ugly Indians" — has managed to clear more than eight miles of […]
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Critical List: Solar will go on military housing; U.S. net petroleum imports
Who needs government loan guarantees? SolarCity is going to put solar panels on 120,000 military houses with financing from Bank of America-owned Merrill Lynch. (Er, down with the banks?) Environmental regulations have "benefits and costs." They do kill jobs, but they also create new ones. The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. is close […]
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India could boycott Olympics over Dow Chemical sponsorship
The Olympics is supposed to be all about fellowship and camaraderie, but the London Olympics Committee might have cozied up to the wrong crowd. Dow Chemicals is set to sponsor the wrap that will cover the Olympic Stadium, and as a result of the company's involvement, the Indian Olympic Association could boycott the Games altogether. […]
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Critical List: Green jobs program flounders; India calls Monsanto out on biopiracy
Oof. Only 10 percent of people the Labor Department trained for green jobs have found work.
Using solar energy to extract oil must be the ultimate example of greenwashing.
In Afghanistan, networking generators together can relieve 7,900 fuel trucks of their duties and keep soldiers from risking their lives to bring oil into the country.
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How to save rhinos and tigers: Shoot the crap out of poachers
In India's Kaziranga National Park, rhinos and tigers are thriving, because poachers are dying instead. When it comes to poachers, the park's rangers have a license to kill, and they do. It gets results:
In 2010, only five rhinos were shot in Kaziranga, while nine poachers were killed, the first time poacher deaths surpassed rhinos. (For comparison, in South Africa, where rangers fire only in self-defense, five poachers were killed in 2010, while 333 rhinos were poached.)
These guys were breaking the law and killing endangered species. But the moral calculus here isn't so clear-cut. In the park's region, jobs are scarce. Park animals eats crops and kill farm animals, and poaching pays better than any other pursuit. Shooting poachers on sight is apparently the most effective way to conserve the park’s threatened animals, but how does that stack up against human injustice? It’s a complicated calculation.
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Can smartphones serve as birth control? [VIDEO]
This amusing Indian ad suggests that smartphones can bring down birthrates. If you're having 3G fun, why bother with old-fashioned amorous pursuits?
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One billion cars clog traffic worldwide
India and Brazil are also helping to accelerate worldwide auto sales -- and greenhouse-gas emissions.