environment

EU on Shale Gas

Sonja Van Renssen, leading Energy & Environment journalist for viEUws met with the Joe Hennon, Environment Spokesman for the European Commission, to discuss Shale Gas.[read more]

The Sixth Edition of Economics of the Environment: Selected Readings has just been published by W. W. Norton & Company of New York and London.  Through five previous editions, Economics of the Environment has served as a valuable supplement to environmental economics texts and as a stand-alone book of original readings in the...[read more]

A Nobel Prize most likely awaits whomever can develop a workable model to prosper human welfare under conditions of declining resources. Will the answers come instead from ordinary people who are learning to live better in The Finite World?[read more]

In 9 of 15 issues examined in a recent AP-GfK Poll (pdf), more Americans who expressed intense interest in an issue voiced strong opposition to Obama's work on it, including the economy, unemployment, federal deficits and terrorism.Respondents were about evenly split over the president's efforts on five issues and strongly approved of...[read more]

The economic method has been abandoned by the U.S. Senate, but there is a way forward if we focus on the true end goal.[read more]

An often discussed theory has been that increasing atmospheric levels of CO2 should stimulate higher growth levels in plants.  However, this has not proven true.  Lucas C. R. Silva, Madhur Anand, and Mark D. Leithead (Global Ecological Change Laboratory, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph) have published...[read more]

When asked “What do you think is the most important problem facing the country today?” about 49 percent of respondents answered the economy or unemployment, while only 1 percent mentioned the environment or global warming. But when asked, “What do you think will be the most serious problem facing the world in the future if nothing...[read more]

I am not a fear monger. I enjoy the fruits of human civilization and celebrate the accomplishments of engineers, designers, architects, manufacturers and builders. I recognize that consuming energy at a high rate is the very definition of "power" and that power is the ability to do work. However, I also love the natural world and want...[read more]

Bloggers are watching the oil spill response closely, and a few have offered their thoughts about the importance of oil and natural gas to the American way of life. Merv Benson at Prairie Pundit commented: "BP is certainly putting the resources behind the effort to staunch the flow of oil from the blowout. It is important not noly...[read more]

The Huffington Post published an article today that alleges Big Oil tried to stop the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) from promulgating new offshore safety rules before the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig accident. It's not true. Here are the facts. API supports the implementation of an effective safety and environmental...[read more]

My wife Karen and I packed a lot into a week’s vacation in Belize. We visited majestic Mayan ruins. Tikal We went hiking and bird watching in the rain forest. Great Kiskadee   We canoed on the Macal River. We toured an organic farm.     The snorkeling was spectacular, even when we came across some nurse sharks, which...[read more]

Individuals who oppose U.S. oil and natural gas development often cite the following sentence: "The United States represents 5 percent of the world's population but uses 25 percent of the world's energy."Ouch. That sentence makes all of us appear to be wasteful,...[read more]

Investment decisions are increasingly impacted by climate change information, based upon new research by the Carbon Disclosure Project (http://www.cdproject.net).  Over 80 institutional investors (three-quarters of those surveyed) that signed the information request sent out by CDP said they factor climate change information into...[read more]

For those who don’t have a youngster in the house, aren’t a fan of cutting-edge animation, or just don’t get out much, you may be interested to learn that the movie WALL-E is perhaps the greatest environmental film of all time. I write this not as a steadfast environmentalist (which I am) or a shill for the Disney Company (which I...[read more]

While many corporations leverage the Internet to distribute information about environmental initiatives, a few companies are going much further by facilitating two-way dialogue with stakeholders.    Some companies may view such dialogue – via email, web forums, chat rooms and video - as risky, as it may open them up to...[read more]