| August 2005
Biotechnology| Climate Change | Drugs & Narcotics | Environment | HIV/AIDS| Intellectual Property |
Millennium Development |
D1 - OECD Biotechnology Update
OECD, July 2005, 22 p
This 22-page newsletter is updated semiannually. Its main purpose is to provide an overview on all aspects of biotechnology for OECD delegates, but anyone interested in the topic will profit from the concise articles on a broad range of biotechnology issues like the future and the impact of bioeconomy, the licensing of genetic inventions and the safety of novel food and feeds. The newsletter also features a “Who’s Who in Biotechnology in OECD. Fulltext
D2 - Climate Change Legislation in the 109th Congress
Yacobucci, Brent D.
The Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service, CRS Report for Congress, RL32955, updated July 18, 2005, 17p.
”Climate change and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are an issue in the 109th Congress, as they have been in past Congresses. Bills directly addressing climate change issues range from those focused primarily on climate change research to comprehensive emissions cap-and-trade programs for the six greenhouse gases covered under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Additional bills focus on GHG reporting and registries, or on power plant emissions of carbon dioxide as part of wider controls on pollutant emissions. Within several broad categories, the bills vary in their approaches to climate change issues. … This report briefly discusses the basic concepts on which these bills are based, and compares major provisions of the bills in each of the following categories: climate change research, technology deployment, GHG reporting and registries, and emissions reduction programs.” Brent D. Yacobucci is a staffer of the Resources, Science, and Industry Division. Fulltext
D3 - Americans on Climate Change: 2005
Kull, Steven with Clay Ramsay, Stefan Subias, Stephen Weber, and Evan Lewis
Program on International Policy Attitudes, (PIPA) / Knowledge Networks, July 5, 2005, 11p.
” An overwhelming majority of Americans supports the US agreeing to limit greenhouse gas emissions in concert with other members of the G8 Summit. (A) new PIPA-Knowledge Networks poll asked, if, at the G8 Summit, “the leaders of these other countries are willing to act to limit the greenhouse gases that cause climate change, President Bush should or should not be willing to act to limit such gases in the US? Eighty-six percent said that he should. Eighty-one percent of Republicans supported this as well as 89% of Democrats.” Steven Kull is the Director of the Center on Policy Attitudes, University of Maryland School of Public Affairs, Council on Foreign Relations and the American Association for Public Opinion Research. Fulltext
D4 - Heating Up!
Kriz, Margaret
National Journal, August 5, 2005, v37, #32; pp. 2504-2509
”This summer, the American political climate on global warming changed dramatically. Many of the key players who once dismissed as unproven the idea that the burning of fossil fuels is causing a harmful rise in Earth's temperature have now concluded that global warming is real -- and very dangerous.” Accordingly “on Capitol Hill, in corporate America, and in cities and state capitols across the country, a growing chorus of executives and lawmakers is calling for aggressive action to limit ‘greenhouse gases.” During the summer, the White House announced an information-sharing pact with Australia, China, India, Japan, and South Korea aimed at developing cleaner, more-efficient energy technologies. The accord, which essentially repackages and expands the administration's existing technology-sharing agreements, is intended to encourage private investment in the new technologies. Margaret Kriz is a National Journal staff correspondent. Fulltext
D5- Drug Control: International Policy and Approaches
Perl, Raphael
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service. Updated June 7, 2005., 19p
The flow of illicit drugs from abroad into the United States has not abated. In addition, worldwide production of illicit drugs has increased, street prices have fallen significantly and the effectiveness of international narcotics control programs in reducing consumption is a matter of concern. This report examines the current U.S. international drug policy and addresses the possible drug control approaches. Raphael Perl is a specialist in international affairs at the Congressional Research Service. Fulltext
D7 -
Third National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals
Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, July 2005, 475p.
On July 21, 2005, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released “the most extensive assessment ever made of the exposure of the U.S. population to chemicals in our environment.” This report “provides an ongoing assessment of the U.S. population's exposure to environmental chemicals using biomonitoring. Biomonitoring is the assessment of human exposure to chemicals by measuring the chemicals or their metabolites in human specimens such as blood or urine. This Third Report presents first-time exposure information for the U.S. population for 38 of the 148 chemicals included in the report. The report also includes the data from the Second Report; that is, data for 1999-2000.” Fulltext
D8 - Environmental Liabilities: EPA Should Do More to Ensure That Liable Parties Meet Their Cleanup Obligations
United States Government Accountability Office, Report to Congressional Requesters, August 2005, 88p.
”The burden of cleaning up Superfund and other hazardous waste sites is increasingly shifting to taxpayers, particularly since businesses handling hazardous substances are no longer taxed under Superfund and the backlog of sites needing cleanup is growing. While key environmental laws rely on the "polluter pays" principle, the extent to which liable parties cease operations or restructure--such as through bankruptcy--can directly affect the cleanup costs faced by taxpayers. GAO was asked to (1) determine how many businesses with liability under federal law for environmental cleanups have declared bankruptcy, and how many such cases the government has pursued in bankruptcy court; (2) identify challenges the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) faces in holding bankrupt and other financially distressed businesses responsible for their cleanup obligations; and (3) identify actions EPA could take to better ensure that such businesses pay for their cleanups.” Fulltext
D9 - Homeland Health. How Environmentalism Can Regain Lost Ground
Freyfogle, Eric T.
Dissent, Summer 2005, v52, #3, pp48-53
Environmental issues did not have much impact as a decisive issue in the 2004 elections. Freyfogle explains that “environmentalists can turn things around if they can rethink their priorities and craft more coherent, consistent, and morally compelling ways of addressing .. [the] environmental plight. The cause needs to stress new themes: the health of the land community as a whole, protecting life and creation, and investing in America's future in ways that yield big dividends. Most of all, the movement needs to talk consistently and forcefully about good citizenship, future generations, and the morality of living responsibly.” Eric T. Freyfogle teaches at the University of Illinois law school and is president of Prairie Rivers Network. Fulltext
D10-
GE Turns Green
Fisher, Daniel
Forbes, August 16, 2005, v176, # 3, pp80-85
This article focuses on General Electric's efforts to be environmentally friendly. “For a long stretch GE has been near the top of environmentalists' most-hated lists. … GE's new philosophy, which roughly coincides with the ascension of Jeffrey R. Immelt to the chief executive position four years ago, is this: If you can't beat the environmentalists, join them. Immelt's GE is going to make a business out of being green. It will not just clean up its own industrial act but also get more deeply into the business of selling eco-friendly devices to other companies. Most of the projects Immelt has approved are intended to help customers avoid painful regulation such as the CO2 caps in Europe or the lawsuit launched last year by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and eight other states against five US utilities over their greenhouse gas emissions.” Daniel Fisher is a senior editor at Forbes. Fulltext
D11 - PPIC Statewide Survey. Special Survey on the Environment in Collaboration with the William and Flora Hewlette Foundation
Baldassare, Mark
Public Policy Institute of California, July 2005, 40p.
According to this survey, Californians are concerned about how global warming will degrade their quality of life and by a profound lack of confidence in the environmental and energy tilt of the federal government. They want the state to act on its own to address the problem, Why are Californians more inclined to see the state, rather than the federal government, as a potential problem-solver? According to the author, it is a question of trust. “Californians do not have much faith in government in general, but when it comes to environmental and energy issues, they clearly see the state as more adequately representing their interests.” Mark Baldassare is research director at Public Policy Institute of California ( PPIC). Fulltext
D12 - Building Faith in the Environment
Dawe, Nancy Anne
American Forests, Summer 2005, online version
Across the faith spectrum, religious communities have become a positive force in the environmental movement. “That momentum has been building since 1990, when 34 eminent scientists - including the late astronomer Carl Sagan - issued an "Open Letter to the Religious Community" at a conference in Moscow. It decried the state of the global ecosystem, urging that "problems of such magnitude and solutions demanding so broad a perspective must be recognized from the outset as having a religious as well as a scientific dimension.’ … Religious communities are moving to the forefront of those actively seeking to improve our footprint on the Earth. Some practice inclusion, getting inner-city, underserved minorities involved through their churches; others preach a moral responsibility to care for God's Earth; still others reflect on energy and land use on their own property.” Fulltext
D13 - Council Report Finds Direct Link Between HIV/AIDS Pandemic and National Security
Garrett, Laurie
Council on Foreign Relations, July 18, 2005, online edition
‘The HIV/AIDS pandemic is affecting the security of states throughout the world, weakening economies, government structures, military and police forces, and social structures.” According to the report, “states with high rates of HIV infection in their productive labor forces and uniformed services have managed to remain intact, from the village level on up, through a plethora of coping mechanisms. But many of these nations are "coping" with HIV while also experiencing massive poverty, tuberculosis, drug-resistant malaria, regional conflicts and a host of other serious challenges. HIV is exacerbating each of these problems, and they, in turn, are straining mechanisms designed to cope with AIDS to the point of failure.” Laurie Garrett , Senior Fellow for Global Health, Council on Foreign Relations. Fulltext
D14 - Copyright Crackdown
McLaughlin, Laurianne,
PC World, September 2005, v23, #9, p14-16
In their aim to fight "casual" piracy, companies have begun shipping compact discs using technology that limits the number of copies one can make of any disc to three. The article provides a short description of the technological developments. Most customers seem to consider a limit of three copies to be fair. Whether companies can employ the new technology and avoid a consumer backlash remains to be seen. Laurianne McLaughlin Staff writer, PC world. Fulltext
Millennium Development
D15 - The Poverty of Economic Policy: Is Debt Sustainability Really Sustainable?
Vallee, Olivier; Vallee, Shahin
Journal of International Affairs, Spring 2005, v58, #2, 16p
“For those concerned about poverty in general and highly indebted countries in particular, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and the apparent new commitment to "making poverty history," are creating a sense of hope and optimism. The recent history of poverty- and debt-relief initiatives, however, suggests that attention should be given not only to the level but also to the form in which aid is provided. In particular, care should be taken to ensure that this additional financing is available in ways that support long-term fiscal sustainability in low-income countries. Financing the MDGs on inappropriate terms could lead to the re-emergence of debt problems in these countries, and would undermine the very development goals that donor countries are seeking to achieve.”
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