POVERTY DISGUISED BY DISTANCE
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF POVERTY IN US & CONGO YIELD FEW CLUES AS TO MEASURE OF HAPPINESS
31 December 2005

The Economist magazine has published an article, in the 20 December edition, dealing with the subject of poverty relative to environment. It examines the economic situations of two men, one an impoverished elderly man in remote Appalachia, the other an accomplished surgeon in Kinshasa, DR Congo. The two men earn roughly the same income per month, but live broadly different lives, juxtaposed in possibly surprising ways. [Full Story]

OIL BUSINESS & FORCED LABOR IN BURMA
29 July 2004

A Burmese woman, who was beaten and thrown with her baby into a fire by regime forces who sought to relocate her to a forcible labor camp set up to build a pipeline, filed suit in U.S. court against Unocal in 1994. The Burmese dictatorship, in order to provide cheap labor for the Unocal pipeline project, ordered the relocation of the plaintiff's entire village, committing them to forced labor to fulfill the pipeline contract. [Full Story]

WORLD DEMANDS RENEWABLE RESOURCES AT BONN
31 May 2004

The Renewables 2004 global conference in Bonn, Germany, has resulted in recommendations for more aggressive research and development of renewable energy resources. Citing persistent unrest in oil rich countries, the negative environmental impact of fossil fuels, along with soaring prices and the economic problems associated with any finite resource, the conference noted the benefits to economic and political security of using resources that are local, clean and renewable. [Full Story]