Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By William Fisher NEW YORK, Aug 26, 2010 (IPS) – With cleanup of the Gulf of Mexico barely underway, energy companies are already assuming a crouching stance in anticipation of a no-holds-barred attack by environmentalists on what the industry says is the next major breakthrough in natural resource [...]
SOUTH-EAST ASIA: China Flexes Hydropower Muscle
August 27, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Aug 27, 2010 (IPS) – After all the turbines in the Xiaowan hydropower station sputtered to life this week in China’s south-west Yunnan province, the Asian giant was able to lay claim to having the world’s largest hydropower capacity. A "great leap forward" was [...]
INDIA: Activists Use Legal Weapons to Stop Thermal Power Plants
August 27, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Pankaj Sekhsaria HYDERABAD, India, Aug 27, 2010 (IPS) – Green activists have various ways of pushing their causes, from enlisting movie stars to launching protests, but India’s campaigners have also been quietly using legal weapons to try to get the projects they oppose, such as thermal plants, [...]
Environment Group Fumes at UN Report on Nigeria Oil Spills
August 25, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN By IDN Environment Desk IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis (IDN) – Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) says that it is "outraged" by reports that a major United Nations investigation into Nigeria oil spills, funded by oil giant Shell, relies more on figures produced by oil companies and Nigerian state statistics [...]
Asia Expects a New Decade in Sustainable Transport
August 24, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN By Taro Ichikawa IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BANGKOK (IDN) – A new town of about 150,000 people is expected to sprout every day in the next 20 years in the Asia-Pacific region, increasing the urban population from 1.6 billion to 2.7 billion in 2030. This will also influence mobility patterns [...]
Chernobyl Effects Could Last Centuries
August 20, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Pavol Stracansky KIEV, Aug 20, 2010 (IPS) – Almost 25 years after the world’s worst nuclear accident a series of new scientific studies have suggested the effects of the Chernobyl disaster have been underestimated. Scientists last month published information that, contradicting previous claims, animal populations are declining [...]
High Level of Nuclear Safety in China
August 18, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN By Taro Ichikawa IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis TOKYO (IDN) – The United Nations atomic energy agency has affirmed the commitment of the Chinese Government to achieve a high level of safety against a background of massive expansion of the nuclear energy programme. Preparations are at an advanced stage for building [...]
China to Have its First Nuclear City Soon
August 17, 2010 By
By R Kim IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis SEOUL (IDN) – Preparations are at an advanced stage for building China’s first Nuclear Power City in the coastal city of Haiyan, on the Yangtze Delta. The construction of the Nuclear City is expected to "start soon", according to the World Nuclear News. The Nuclear Power City will be built [...]
MEXICO: Oil Workers at Sea Without a Safety Net
August 13, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Emilio Godoy MEXICO CITY, Aug 13, 2010 (IPS) – The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has reawakened concerns about labour conditions on Mexican drilling platforms. Restrictions on trade union freedoms, lack of insurance and health coverage, low wages, poor training and corrupt practices are some [...]
Russia’s Agony a "Wake-Up Call" to the World
August 11, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Stephen Leahy VIENNA, Aug 11, 2010 (IPS) – A wind turbine on an acre of northern Iowa farmland could generate 300,000 dollars worth of greenhouse-gas-free electricity a year. Instead, the U.S. government pays out billions of dollars to subsidise grain for ethanol fuel that has little if [...]
