World Watch articles from May 2006

World Watch archives from May 2006

Aluminum cans.(production and consumption data)
May 1, 2006... Overview In 1964, Reynolds introduced one-way aluminum cans as a convenient alternative to returnable glass bottles and to steel cans, which still required a can opener. Until the 1980s, aluminum cans were used only for beer and soda, but...

Michael Renner: reconciliation from destruction in Aceh.
May 1, 2006... On a sweltering morning on December 21, 2005, I watched six young men stride onto Blang Padang sports field in the heart of Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia's Aceh province. Clad in black uniforms and matching berets, each held an assault...

Don't worry, be profitable.(FROM READERS)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2006... Editor's note: World Watch's Peak Oil Forum (January/February 2006) generated the strongest reaction from readers since we published "A Challenge to Conservationists" in late 2004. As with that article, passions ran high, as you'll see from...

State of action.(FROM READERS)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2006... Congratulations on your five pieces about Peak Oil! I even plodded through the propaganda by Red Cavaney. Words from his American Petroleum Institute may be ignored, but unfortunately its money has helped to prevent meaningful federal support...

What about the books?(FROM READERS)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2006... After worldwide oil production peaks, there are no substitutes ready to make up the energy shortfall. Since there are no alternative energy sources, a priority should be the preservation of knowledge. We're likely to lose many of the books...

Stop dithering.(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2006... World Watch has done a disservice to all of us with its report on the coming peak in oil production. First, you fail to note that worldwide per capita production peaked in 1979. We have been living with the dangerous consequences of a declining...

Many options--except for plastics?(hydrogen )
May 1, 2006... Concerning peak oil production: Why do some people spend time trying to prove that the peak is far off? My feeling is that subconsciously this takes them off the hook; they do not need to act right away. And this allows them to label others by...

Reserve reservations.(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2006... What an intriguing issue! It seems the world does have its problems, but nothing that switching to soy-based ink won't cure. For example, one of your quoted experts, Red Cavaney in this case, cites U.S. "undiscovered reserves" at 131 billion...

On Smil.(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2006... What a pleasant surprise to read Vaclav Smil's essay challenging those predicting catastrophe. Smil knows what he is talking about. I have read his many excellent books. Congratulations to World Watch for including Smil. STEVE BAER ...

Malaria linked to deforestation.(ENVIRONMENTAL INTELLIGENCE)
May 1, 2006... Two studies conducted in South America's Amazon forest show that greater incidence of malaria in newly settled frontier regions is related not just to the increase in human numbers, but to changes in the landscape itself. Over a year,...

Nutrients declining in food supply.
May 1, 2006... In the January/March issue of The Food Magazine, British nutritionist David Thomas reports that the mineral content of meat and milk products has declined significantly in the past 60 years. Analyzing food nutrient data from 1940 and 2002,...

World Bank backs controversial gold mine.(International Finance Corporation sanctions loan to Newmont Mining Corporation)
May 1, 2006... Despite months of pressure, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank's private-sector arm, on January 31 approved a loan of US$125 million to Newmont Mining Corporation for its Ahafo gold mine project in Ghana. Ghanaian and...

Electronics recycling law is first in U.S. to bill manufacturers.
May 1, 2006... In January, Maine became the first U.S. state to bill manufacturers directly for the cost of recycling used televisions and computer monitors. Under the new law, producers must shoulder the cost of sending these electronics to recycling centers...

Wal-Mart to source fish "sustainably".
May 1, 2006... Wal-Mart, the world's largest retail chain and the largest seller of food in the United States, announced that it would begin certifying all of its seafood for the North American market as "sustainably sourced" in three to five years. Wal-Mart...

Arctic melting.(climate change)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... See "Living With Climate Change in the Arctic," September/October 2005, p. 18 An extensive study of Arctic climate change involving some 120 scientists from 11 countries has boosted concerns about the impact of fast-melting polar ice on...

China industrial crackdown.(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... See "Incident at Jilin," March/April 2006, p. 14 Following a spate of industrial disasters, China's government ordered in February that environmental accidents be reported within an hour after they are discovered, citing the public's "right...

Slippery oil data.(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... See "Peak Oil Forum," January/February 2006, p. 9 If a new industry proposal has its way, U.S. oil companies could soon find it even easier to mislead people about how much oil and natural gas is in the ground. The report proposes that...

Dockworkers protest emissions.(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... See "Trade and Consequences," November/December 2005, p. 23 The International Longshore and Warehouse Union, representing 60,000 dockworkers on the U.S. West Coast, has launched a campaign to pressure ports and shipowners to cut diesel...

Marketing markets.(gasoline tax)
May 1, 2006... Groundwork appears in alternating issues of World Watch as a column and as small sidebars that unearth the concept from feature articles. The two are linked using the icon at left. In February, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney dismissed...

Green Cities.
May 1, 2006... The International Children's Painting Competition on the Environment is organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Japan-based Foundation for Global Peace and Environment (FGPE), and the Bayer Group. It has been held...

Can organic farming feed us all?
May 1, 2006... The only people who think organic farming can feed the world are delusional hippies, hysterical moms, and self-righteous organic farmers. Right? Actually, no. A fair number of agribusiness executives, agricultural and ecological...

Protecting our forests, protecting ourselves.
May 1, 2006... Diseases resulting from deforestation and animal contact rarely call to mind a place like Duchess County, New York. Yet the county is now home to the highest rates of Lyme disease among U.S. residents. Loss of natural predators in the region's...

Brave nuclear world? The planet is warming, and proponents of nuclear power say they've got the answer. Are nuclear plants the climate cavalry? First of two parts.
May 1, 2006... A few miles down an idyllic New England country road dotted with handsome homesteads and gentleman farms in central Connecticut sits the Connecticut Yankee nuclear power plant--or what's left of it. After shutting down in 1996, the 590-megawatt...

Valuing the earth.(agricultural land)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... Valuing the Earth Average or typical cost, price, or value, in U.S. dollars per square meter, of: Privately owned Brazilian virgin timberland $.005 New Mexico (U.S.A.) agricultural land ...