Their Beat: Global environmental issues including climate change, wilderness and wildlife preservation, food politics, and energy policy
Tough Questions: “What are the ethical implications of funding [Venezuela’s] socialist revolution on crude oil sales?” “How can we feed ourselves safely?”
Words Of Wisdom: “Environmentalists used to fret that humanity was fouling its own nest. Today, as mounting evidence of global warming emerges, it seems we’ve set our nest aflame.”
Who Knew?:Earth Island Journal reports on environmentally friendly funeral pyres in India, militias that patrol the oil-rich Niger Delta, and how the nuclear power industry is remarketing itself as green (reprinted on page 56).
Their Beat: The Canadian province of Alberta, whose booming oil economy has wrought environmental havoc, led to an immigration influx, and fueled a diverse and vibrant arts scene
Tough Questions: “What will it take to encourage more immigrants to come to Alberta, and stay put?” “Germany has over 200,000 solar powered roofs. Why does sunny Alberta have so few?”
Words Of Wisdom: “Betting hard on the curative powers of economic growth, the government ignored the effect of inflation and growth on welfare benefits, social services, and affordable housing–to the point where homelessness and housing affordability problems became inevitable.”
Who Knew?:Alberta Views informs us that Alberta has had 10 consecutive Conservative governments in 35 years, that ticket sales for the Alberta Ballet were up 40 percent in 2006, and that the province’s population will hit 12 to 15 million people by 2105.
Their Beat: Buddhist thought and practice, with a focus on health, wellness, and making Buddhism relevant and meaningful in the modern world
Tough Questions: “Who owns our attention? Who should have the right to decide what happens to it?” “How exactly are we going to practice peace in a time when there is such a staggering amount of war?”
Words Of Wisdom: “To us is granted the privilege of being on hand: to take part, if we choose, in the Great Turning to a just and sustainable society.”
Who Knew?:Shambhala Sun reveals that wishing happiness for people we don’t like can make them easier to deal with, that participating in rituals that mark life’s passages can help us acknowledge impermanence, and that Buddhist principles can save the planet.
