The High Environmental and Human Costs of Oil Exploitation

As the world watches the scramble to save the shoreline and wildlife trapped in the path of the Beyond Petroleum (BP) oil spill in the Mexican Gulf, many unanswered questions resurface. Notably: what are the true costs of oil exploitation? And do the benefits really outweigh the costs?

In Honor of Earth Day: Burn for Alternative Clean Energy

(Image via Haiku Pundit)

It is time for the Obama Administration to take active steps to preserve the environment.

First, the Administration can start by ratifying the Kyoto protocol and by entering it into force. The Kyoto Protocol came about from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Protocol is an agreement that commits industrialized countries and the European community to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The protocol recognizes that, due to a larger period of industrial activity, developed nations bear the brunt of the responsibility for the emissions. The Protocol advocates a reduction rate of an average of five per cent against 1990 levels over the five-year period of 2008-2012. Although the United States is a 1998 signatory to the protocol, the Bush administration declined to ratify the protocol. Until the protocol is ratified, it has no binding legal force in the United States.

“Food Deserts”: Fertile Ground for Socially-minded Entrepreneurs

This piece by Ifeoma Ajunwa was originally posted on Right Respect on April 14th, 2010.

Recently, First Lady Michelle Obama penned a cover story for Newsweek magazine in which she detailed her fight against the growing rates of obesity in school age American children. Obesity brings with it a host of health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Further, high obesity rates negatively impact the economy, as millions of tax payer dollars are spent each year in treating the chronic diseases that stem from it. Since, as the First Lady noted, a third of American children are either overweight or obese, the fight against obesity is a matter of national concern.