Indonesia
-
It’s not just Australia — Indonesia is facing its own climate disaster
The communities most vulnerable to flooding are those living in poor neighborhoods, especially slums located near wastewater, which can spread pathogens when combined with flooding.
-
The group that was supposed to make palm oil sustainable just disappeared
Environmentalists pushed companies to sign up for the Indonesia Palm Oil Pledge — but now it’s gone.
-
This civil engineer is building houses to withstand earthquakes and hurricanes
Elizabeth Hausler Strand founded Build Change, a nonprofit, to bring in the (literal) reinforcements when natural disasters strike.
-
Indonesian city orders women to stop straddling bikes
We're not even going to ask what the situation might be with recumbent bikes or unicycles.
-
Critical List: Natural gas bigwig steps down as company chair; new coral reefs
Aubrey McClendon, chair of the natural gas company Chesapeake Energy, is giving up his role as chairman (but will remain CEO). McClendon faced criticism for mixing his personal finances with the company’s business. More Indonesian palm oil plantations are going on peatland, which means more intensive carbon emissions, which means … well, you guys know […]
-
Critical List: Earthquake off the coast of Indonesia; Tennessee anti-climate teaching bill now a law
A look at the news of the day.
-
How rainforests can produce biofuel sustainably
Production of biofuel from palm oil has been an unmitigated disaster for the rainforest, leading to clear-cutting throughout Indonesia and propelling that country to the top ranks of the world's largest greenhouse gas emitters. That's why it's so strange that biologist Willie Smits, last seen cooking up a plan to save orangutans, thinks that biofuels could actually save the rainforest.
-
One-third of Indonesia's electricity could come from geothermal energy
Here's an old clean energy maxim: If life gives you volcanoes, make geothermal power. That's Indonesia's strategy, anyway, and it's working for them. By 2025, the country could get a third of its electricity from geothermal sources, and Al Gore has said it could be the first "geothermal superpower."
-
Companies like Mattel are still pushing Sumatran tigers to the brink
Mattel’s paper purchasing polices are weaker than Ken’s plastic handshake. Poor Barbie. She’s survived fifty years of bad outfits, sudden beheadings at the hands of younger brothers and the wrath of feminists everywhere. Underneath that fixed smile is a steely determination that has pushed this character to the front of American popular culture and kept […]