NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
July 3, 2008
Biofuels and Sustainable Development
Report
By Henry Lee, Director, Environment and Natural Resources Program and William Clark, Harvey Brooks Professor of International Science, Public Policy, and Human Development; Co-director, Sustainability Science Program; Faculty Chair, ENRP;
The goals and concerns surrounding the debate over government policies related to the greater use and production of biofuels were addressed in an executive session convened by the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the Venice International University on May 19th and 20th, 2008.
May 16, 2008
The Future of the International Whaling Commission: Strengthening Ocean Diplomacy
Report
By Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development; Director, Science, Technology, and Globalization Project
"Whales symbolize divergent issues ranging from science-based management of natural resources to moral considerations associated with our relationship with the natural world....While much work has been done on the management of terrestrial ecosystems, there is growing concern over the state of the world's oceans and the limited number of comprehensive international regimes that can address critical issues such as the resources that lie beyond national jurisdiction. This problem is compounded by scientific uncertainties associated with the current state of knowledge of marine ecosystems.
But these uncertainties also represent opportunities to position the International Whaling Commission as a flagship organization in ocean diplomacy and science-based conservation and management...."
April 29, 2008
Coal Assessment and Extraction in India: Issues and Prospects
Presentation
By Ananth Chikkatur, Research Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy
In this presentation, Chikkatur outlines the role coal plays in China, presents the various challenges the coal sector faces in 21st Century India, and discusses a high-level seminar series in India that is addressing these issues.
February 15, 2008
"Challenges of Integrating the Advancement of Coal Gasification Technology and CO2 Capture Storage (CCS) Technology"
Presentation
By Jennie Stephens, Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy
Invited Presentation in Symposium on "Coal Gasification: Myths, Challenges, and Opportunities" American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting, February 15, 2008, Boston, MA.
January 25, 2008
"Science and Technology for Sustainable Well-Being"
Journal Article, Science, issue 5862, volume 319
By John P. Holdren, Director and Faculty Chair, Science, Technology and Public Policy Program
"I would urge every scientist and engineer with an interest in the intersection of S&T with sustainable well-being...to 'tithe' 10% of your professional time and effort to working in these and other ways to increase the benefits of S&T for the human condition and to decrease the liabilities. If so much as a substantial fraction of the world's scientists and engineers resolved to do this much, the acceleration of progress toward sustainable well-being for all of Earth's inhabitants would surprise us all."
December 10, 2007
"Linking Climate Policy with Development Strategy: Options for Brazil, China, and India"
Presentation
By John P. Holdren, Director and Faculty Chair, Science, Technology and Public Policy Program
Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program Director John P. Holdren spoke at a Woods Hole Research Center–sponsored side event at the 13th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bali, Indonesia.
AP
October 24, 2007
ETIP's Kelly Sims Gallagher at Chicago Public Radio/The Economist Debate on China's Environmental Legacy
In the News
By Kelly Sims Gallagher, Director, Energy Technology Innovation Policy
The Energy Technology Innovation Policy Research Group's Kelly Sims Gallagher participated in a debate, "Will China's Rise Lead to an Environmental Catastrophe?" on Wednesday, October 24, 2007, which was sponsored by Chicago Public Radio and The Economist magazine.
July 30, 2007
Don't Count Out Malthus
Op-Ed, Los Angeles Times
The great demographer and economist Thomas Malthus was 23 years old the last time a British summer was this rain-soaked, which was in 1789. The consequences of excessive rainfall in the late 18th century were predictable. Crops would fail, the harvest would be dismal, food prices would rise and some people would starve. It was no coincidence that the French Revolution broke out the same year.
Nine years after that summer, Malthus published his "Essay on the Principle of Population." We would do well to reread it today. Malthus' key insight was simple but devastating. "Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio," he observed. But "subsistence increases only in an arithmetical ratio." In other words, humanity can increase like the number sequence 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, whereas our food supply can increase no faster than the number sequence 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
July/August 2007
"What is the Future of U.S. Coal?"
Magazine or Newspaper Article, The Environmental Forum, issue 4, volume 24
By Robert N. Stavins, Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government; Member of the Board
"The competitiveness of coal-fired generation diminishes as the stringency of an emissions cap increases."
