LCENVS

Interesting blog post that suggests we'll see an increase in global food insecurity and a like "uptick of government enforcement in the area of agricultural commodities." 

It's always easy to see how people subscribing to ideas we don't like succumb to groupthink, but we are capable of the same -- here, the topic concerns the anti-Islamicist trend in this country but it could equally concern any environmentalist/anti-environmentalist bandwagons out there. Dowd quotes a Scottish historian: "[People], it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one."

Overpopulation was one of the major issues of the early 1970s environmental movement, then became such a divisive issue that it was hard for anyone to discuss. This article considers opportunities and challenges in slowing population growth for India; would be interested if others find it to be reasonable. 

The animal rights movement is making headway on chicken farmers and others who raise livestock.  It's easy to see the economic interests of chicken farmers being affected by these new regulations, but can we appreciate that they genuinely find nothing to be wrong with current cage regulations, as suggested in quotes from this article?

So, our worst fears about GMOs have come true.  But should we still be afraid?  This article starts by saying "This might not even be a problem at all," then describes how genetically engineered canola is sprouting up all along roadsides in North Dakota.  As it turns out, "These genetically engineered canola plants have been found growing along roads in Canada, where canola is widely grown, and in Japan, which imports the crop."  Doesn't this mean lots of other crops will soon follow suit?  One scientist offers in conclusion that plants like corn and soybeans, also preponderantly GMO-based, are "super-domesticated and they just don't really like to go wild." So maybe we'll get used to only certain GMOs alongside our roads?

The author, who grew up in Kibera, a large slum in Nairobi we feature in our treatment of the East Africa research site, argues that "Slum tourism turns poverty into entertainment, something that can be momentarily experienced and then escaped from."  I did this myself in a quick tour of Kibera in 2007.  The author concludes, "Slums will not go away because a few dozen Americans or Europeans spent a morning walking around them. There are solutions to our problems - but they won't come about through tours."  I'm curious what those of you who have visited slums as part of an LC overseas program or on your own think about the author's position?

Time article looks at some metrics in an attempt to quantify the relative extent of the BP spill. (Peter Vidito, Summer 2010)