This newsletter has to be one of our most action-packed ever, featuring stories and multimedia on shale gas, geoengineering, currency wars, military energy innovations, biodiversity and peace-building, wild potatoes, incentives to recycle, China policy for dummies, common ownership of the Earth, the origins of innovation, and access to affordable clean energy in the developing world.
Shale Gas Goes Global
Christina L. Madden
Shale gas reserves are being explored on nearly every continent, with the United States leading the way in the controversial drilling practice called hydrofracking.
Leading by Example
Colonel Bob “Brutus” Charette, Jr. (USMC), Rear Admiral Philip Cullom (USN), Brigadier General Peter A. “Duke” DeLuca, Jonathan Powers
Representatives from the Navy, the Marines, and the Army Corps of Engineers illustrate how the U.S. military is innovating to reduce its energy footprint for strategic and tactical reasons.
Recycling Global Imbalances
Korkut Ertürk
Is the United States at long last getting serious about global imbalances, or are we risking currency wars that can end in unmitigated disaster for all?
Common Earth Ownership
Mathias Risse, John Tessitore
Mathias Risse discusses the idea that each person has an equal claim to the planet, and what this would mean for immigration policy and for climate change refugees.
The Geoengineering Dilemma
Evan O’Neil, William Vocke
Should geoengineering be regulated multilaterally before rogue countries experiment with our collective future?
Building Biotic Peace
Saleem H. Ali
It is high time that UN negotiators overcome their visceral reluctance to link ecology and peace-building.
The Missing MDG
Mary Weatherbee
Access to sustainable, affordable, and clean energy sources underpins the ability to realize all the Millennium Development Goals.
Sustainability Incentives
Ian Yolles, Julia Taylor Kennedy
How do we make recycling and sustainable practices desirable for American homeowners? Ian Yolles, chief marketing officer at RecycleBank, discusses incentives.
Stalking the Wild Potato
G. Pascal Zachary
Ancient Peru is where all potatoes came from and hundreds of edible native varieties persist today, yet conservationists worry that market forces will encroach on Peru’s food biodiversity.
China Policy for Dummies
Devin T. Stewart
BOOK REVIEW: Stefan Halper lacks originality in his argument that China’s inroads in the developing world are shrinking the West, and that the country’s values will be corrosive to Western preeminence, leading to a global war of ideas.
Chance Favors the Connected Mind
Steven Johnson
Best-selling author Steven Johnson asks, Where do good ideas come from? What is the space of creativity and innovation?