Jun 29
Beyond the tragedy of the commons Very often the countries with abundant resources are the poorest and the least developed. Common wisdom assumes that development requires exploitation of these resources. But is there an alternative? In recent years, there has been an increase in sustainable and eco-friendly businesses that challenge this assumption. Eco-tourism is one …
Jun 29
Every now and then I read an article that I simply have to share with someone; so, today I share it with you! The article in this case is about Lapu-Lapu, a city in the Philippines which has taken an interesting route to promote ecotourism: recruiting students to act as ‘ecotourism police’ who report people they …
Jun 28
Dolphin Fishing in Japan In the historic fishing village of Taiji, there is an annual dolphin hunt that takes place for sport. This culling (or selective slaughter to reduce the dolphin population) in Taiji is a tradition that is mostly unknown to Japanese outside this town because the fishermen hide it from view. Dolphin hunting …
Jun 22
The University of Oregon and the Global Oregon Initiative recently announced an interesting—and controversial—partnership: a partnership with the government of Gabon. This one-of-a-kind cooperative agreement has a noble purpose: to establish joint research centers in Eugene and Libreville in order to study sustainability, economic development, and natural resource management. However, the union is problematic because of …
Jun 15
Coal and the future of energy In a recent post I commented about the problems that communities in Kentucky face against coal industries and mountain top removal procedures (see here). People concerned about mining’s environmental impact propose a return to “deep mining. Deep mining is not as damaging as mountain top removal, and it also …
Jun 14
The case of the eastern Kentucky’s Appalachia Mountains Last week I was part of a delegation to Kentucky with Witness for Peace (to learn more about the organization click here). Its goal was to learn about coal extraction and its impacts on the communities and the environment of Eastern Kentucky. During the three-day trip, I was …
Jun 13
I recently returned from a 6-day trip to California (you may remember my preparations) that turned out to be surprisingly eco-friendly, and so I thought I would deviate from the traditional blog post today to do a sort of photo-essay. Hopefully this will help drive home the point that no matter where you are going …
Apr 22
Today, April 22nd, is celebrated as Earth Day. The idea is to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s natural environment and was first celebrated on April 22, 1970. The idea for Earth Day is credited to Gaylord Nelson, a former U.S. Senator, after he witnessed some of the side effects of the 1969 massive …
Mar 15
Lately, I have come across a lot of new concepts and initiatives but one initiative that I feel obligated to share is the Philips Livable Cities Award (PLCA). Under the banner “better cities make better lives”, the PLCA is a global initiative which is designed to encourage individuals, community groups and businesses to develop practical, …
