Environment and Natural Resources

For journalism, the 21st century is an era where public trust drops yearly, and reporters face competition to reach a growing Internet audience. Adding these challenges to a beat as controversial and global as climate and energy policy creates a job that seems near impossible.

The New York Times’ Energy and Environment Correspondent Coral Davenport confronts these challenges head-on by covering environmental policy in a way that goes beyond the conventional boundaries of Washington-based reporting to the larger, all-encompassing impact of climate change issues on a human and dollars-and-sense scale.

Scientists from three universities demonstrate that buying a product made in China causes significantly higher carbon dioxide emissions than purchasing the same product made elsewhere.

The Science, Technology, and Public Policy (STPP) Programis seeking a new colleague to manage, coordinate, and conduct research for a major research project. The project examines a wide range of issues focusing on innovations, climate mitigation, and sustainable energy alternatives in China, the United States, and the European Union.

Washington Post national environment reporter Juliet Eilperin spoke on the political difficulties of pursuing environmental policy in a seminar titled "Covering Environmental Controversies in a Political Environment" at the Harvard Kennedy School.

With both China and the United States relying heavily on coal for electricity, senior government officials from both countries urged immediate action to push forward technology that would reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired plants. The leaders spoke April 16 at a high-level workshop jointly hosted by China's Ministry of Science and Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center. The workshop aimed to develop concrete and specific opportunities for U.S.-China cooperation on advanced coal technologies, and the group will submit policy recommendations to both the Obama Administration and the Chinese government.

"A Joint Workshop on IGCC & Co-Production and CO2 Capture & Storage" was held during May 23-24, 2007 in Beijing, China. The Ministry of Science and Technology, Energy Technology Innovation Policy at Harvard University, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences co-sponsored the workshop.