Living in a marginal (but stunning) landscape with obvious constraints has its drawbacks when too many people move there and the natural resources become depleted. In the American Southwest, those drawbacks are not really being felt by the hordes who live there now. Yet. But based on my own knowledge of the drought history of…Continue Reading…
I’ve previously discussed how some anti-immigrant factions use green rhetoric as a proxy in their endless quest to “stabilize” population growth in the U.S. Longtime environmental activists tend to wave off this unsavory element within their ranks, as if it was just a few cranks crashing their party. History suggests otherwise. Now, via John Fleck,…Continue Reading…
Rage will be the topic du jour today, thanks to the loons that gathered in D.C. and Serena’s meltdown. But exposure of widespread neglect of clean water laws on a state and federal level? Please. So let us at least ponder this essential question raised by one interviewee in today’s NYT investigative shocker: “How can…Continue Reading…
UPDATE: [[I should have been more familiar with No Impact Man’s blog–and the scope of his activism– before being so dismissive of him. Thanks to the reader below for providing a larger and fairer context.]] I’m not above stunts myself, especially if it scores me a long feature assignment. The last one I undertook in…Continue Reading…
Turkey is playing a high-stakes game with Iraq, using water to advance its national security interests. Will Rogers at the Natural Security blog has nicely sized up this fascinating new wrinkle–yet another example of the emerging nexus between between international relations and environmental resources: If Turkey is successful in getting Iraq to crack down on…Continue Reading…
The dominant framing of the water/drought issue in California is quite similar to that of the emerging climate change/developing world meme. In California, drought is simplistically blamed for the state’s water woes and economic plight of farmers. Similarly, venerable authorities claim that climate change is responsible for 300,000 annual deaths and much misery in developing…Continue Reading…
This could get ugly. (Hat Tip: John Fleck.)
This is a ticking time bomb for Mexico, a greater long-term threat to the country’s sociopolitical stability than the drug cartels.
Never you worry. Looks like a lot of journalists, academics and environmentalists bought into a big myth.