Articles by Geoff Dabelko

Roundtrippin’ from local to global

Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai isn't just sticking to the local environment, development, and security struggles that earned her the 2004 award. Dr. Maathai, the Kenyan environmental activist and deputy environment minister, recently called on African governments to be more aggressive in addressing climate change. She argued for presenting the climate change challenge in "simple terms" with "simple solutions" such as planting trees.  Read more on BBC.

Future funding fortunes

According to analysis by the National Committee on Science and the Environment, budgets for the EPA and most non-defense science agencies would be cut under the Omnibus Appropriations bill Congress passed over the weekend. NCSE says:

...the budget for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would decline by approximately $345 million or 4.1 percent to $8.02 billion in FY 2005. EPA's Science and Technology account would decline by approximately 4.9 percent to $744 million.

You can access more of NCSE's budget analysis of the supposedly 1,689 page document.

NCSE puts on a good annul conference in Washington by the way -- next year's is entitled Forecasting Environmental Change and runs 3-4 February 2005. Register by December 3 for a cut rate registration fee.

Kyoto Kicks In

Mark your calendar -- the U.N. has designated February 16, 2005, as the day the Kyoto Protocol comes into force. The Russians gave U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan their official notice of ratification today in Nairobi where the Security Council is meeting.  Read more from BBC or the U.N.

Watch Water Wiz

Fresh water continues to fight for a fraction of the attention and resources commonly devoted to Northern favorites biodiversity and climate change. It shouldn't be a zero sum game, but that is a rant for a different day.

If you want to hear one of the world's water experts, tune in on-line Wednesday, November 17 at 10 am EST to hear Dr. Peter Gleick, director of the Pacific Institute and MacArthur genius award winner, discuss his new book The World's Water 2004-2005: The Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources. Every two years Peter and his colleagues put out a new World's Water volume with a mix of critical topics. This year's edition covers the inadequate commitment to the Millennium Development Goals, the myth and reality of bottled water, the privatization controversy, the economic value of water, the unsustainable use of groundwater, and climate change's effect on water resources.

This session with Peter Gleick is the first of many webcast meetings here at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, my home institution, which I will occasionally plug.  
UPDATE: A summary of this meeting including Dr. Gleick's powerpoint slides is now available.