Earth Island Journal articles from December 1997

Earth Island Journal archives from December 1997

IWC debates whaling proposals. (International Whaling Commission)
December 22, 1997... Monaco -- The 1997 meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) last October brought together 32 nations to debate the future of whaling. At particular issue were two proposals that threaten to erode the IWC's current global moratorium...

Save the Endangered Species Act!
December 22, 1997... Anti-environmental members of Congress are once again stalking the Endangered Species Act (ESA) our nation's toughest wildlife law. Their proposed bill would hamstring the ESA in the name of eliminating "red tape." The ESA is a unique...

Airport demos rock Europe. ("Right Price for Air Travel" to reflect environmental costs)
December 22, 1997... The Netherlands -- On December 5, environmental organizations demonstrated at airports in 16 European countries to draw attention to the environmental consequences of air transport [See "Oil Spills in the Sky," Summer '97 EIJ]. The "Right...

Coca-Cola: recycling outlaw. (from Eco-Cycle Times)
December 22, 1997... In the next 24 hours US consumers will use 50 million #1 polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic soda bottles. As I quickly as we toss them, the plastic bottle industry extracts more nonrenewable resources from the Earth to make 50 million...

Bigger people: a growing problem.
December 22, 1997... In an article in the September 1996 Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, I first raised the issue of the harmful effects of increasing body size on human performance and health, and on the resources of the Earth. In the US, the...

"Ecological New Deal" in Germany. (adapted from 'Restoring the Earth: Visionary Solutions from the Bioneers')
December 22, 1997... Tapping a pen on her unassuming desk in Hannover, environmental-activist-turned-politician Monika Griefahn -- the new Minister of the Environment for the state of Lower Saxony -- discusses her bold political agenda. "Following the great...

Aiding the European Union: who really benefits? (excerpt from 'Europe, Inc.')
December 22, 1997... According to unpublished internal Euro pean Union (EU) contract lists, the main beneficiaries of the European Union aid program to Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) are western corporations. The lion's share of contracts belong to powerful...

Stevia: the natural sweetener that frightens NutraSweet. (includes related articles)
December 22, 1997... Look up the word "sweet" in the dictionary and one of the definitions you find is "pleasing or agreeable." That definition, however, is only partially true. While conventional sweeteners may be "pleasing" to the taste, they can hardly be...

Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (includes related article on 50th anniversary of the declaration)
December 22, 1997... On December 10, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the full text of which appears in the following pages. Following this historic act, the Assembly called upon all...

The global trade in women. (excerpt from IDOC Internazionale, April-June 1997) (includes related articles)
December 22, 1997... Entertainment girls, hospitality girls, prostitutes, mail-order brides and massage girls: They're all part of the globalization of the world's economy. Around the world, women and children are being sold for profit and shipped across borders,...

A future without fossil fuel. (adapted from 'Charging Ahead: The Business of Renewable Energy and What It Means for America') (includes related article)
December 22, 1997... Within about 50 years -- and possibly sooner, if we choose -- the world will greatly reduce its massive reliance on fossil fuel and nuclear energy by shifting to clean, sustainable renewable energy sources. Since 1970, we've spent more...

Can green power survive deregulation? (electric power)
December 22, 1997... In the first months of 1998, 30 million US households will be given the opportunity to choose their electric power supplier. But, despite the flurry of feel-good advertising from self-styled "green power" providers, the new "deregulated" power...

Save our wealth: save our environment. (excerpted from 'The World's Wasted Wealth 2') (includes related article)
December 22, 1997... We all want a peaceful and prosperous world, vet nations continually battle over the planet's natural wealth and keep the world impoverished. If the citizens of the industrialized world knew that poverty could be largely eliminated, even as...

Fluoride, teeth and the A-bomb. (includes related articles)(Cover Story)
December 22, 1997... The following article was commissioned by the Christian Science Monitor in the spring of 1997. Despite favorable comment from the editors, the story has remained unpublished. investing more than a year on research and believing that this...