Uncategorized | ModeShift

Gina Lopez, Persistent Philippine Environment Secretary, Is In Trouble

by Keith SchneiderApril 10, 2017April 28, 20171

There is really no puzzle why Gina Lopez is struggling to hold onto her job as the Philippine secretary of the environment. On her first day in the post last July she dispatched inspectors to see how faithfully the countryâ€™s 40 large hardrock mines, 27 of them nickel ore producers, adhered to national environmental law and regulation. The Philippines is one of the worldâ€™s largest nickel ore producers and exporters. Global nickel ore prices soared …

Out of Disruption a Global Awakening

by Keith SchneiderJanuary 23, 2017January 31, 20170

CHENNAI, INDIA — The last time I can recall a civic awakening as big, gallant, and well-intentioned as the mammoth demonstrations occurring here in the capital of Tamil Nadu, and in American cities this weekend, I’d just turned 14 years old. On April 22, 1970 the United States celebrated the first Earth Day. Twenty million Americans participated. It was a day that led to environmental safeguards and new principles of managing the planet that have …

In the U.S., An “Episode” Set to End, Another Ready to Start

by Keith SchneiderNovember 4, 2016November 4, 20160

SOMERSET, KY. — A story of leadership and poise emerged on Wednesday night after the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. It is a lesson with lasting value to our national life. The Cleveland Indians scored three runs in the bottom of the 8th inning to tie the game. Momentum had veered to the home team. To a man, the Cubs were rattled. Some said they were finding it hard to breathe. At the end …

Cities Are Stronghold of Performance in Maelstrom of American Disarray

by Keith SchneiderJune 4, 2016November 4, 20160

COLUMBUS, OH — In the year of Trump it’s plain that the United States is entering a new and reckless age. Our federal lawmakers neglect their constitutional duties to legislate in the public interest. Ideology and inflexibility, the gravest threats to a democracy, are elevated as virtues on the political right and political left. Random massacres occur with weekly frequency. Fear and distrust and racism and hate have been unleashed as mainstream attitudes. Where are …

South Africa Bullied by Climate Change

by Keith SchneiderMay 17, 2016May 17, 20160

Until a ferocious drought withered crops, turned rivers to trickles, and dried up municipal drinking water supplies, one of Limpopo provinceâ€™s distinctions was the ample sun and good soil that made it South Africaâ€™s premier producer of fruits and vegetables. Another distinction was that farmers developed an informal accord to share scarce water with coal companies that were busy developing the Waterberg Coalfield that lies beneath dry central Limpopo. This week Yale Environment 360, the …

President Obamaâ€™s Flint Visit is Critique of â€œCulture of Neglectâ€ That Damages Nationâ€™s Water

by Keith SchneiderMay 11, 2016May 11, 20160

FLINT, MI —FLINT, MI â€“ Before Barack Obama spent the afternoon in this tormented post-industrial Michigan city last week, the last president that visited Flint was Gerald Ford. That was 1974, just a few months after Richard Nixon resigned the presidency. Flint in the 1970s provided the vital equipment, and perfectly reflected the auto-oriented, resource-abundant, mobile American way of life nearly half a century ago. General Motors employed 80,000 people in its Flint car and …

Public Opposition, Changing Ecology Sap Strength of Fossil Fuel Industries

by Keith SchneiderMay 1, 2016June 20, 20210

It’s been nearly three years since I traveled in Uttarakhand, India to report on the aftermath of a murderous Himalayan flood that killed thousands of Hindu pilgrims and wrecked at least 10 big hydropower dams. Witnessing that much damage from an ecological event changed how I viewed the power of Mother Nature and the wrath she is exhibiting to human communities. It’s been nearly two years since I reported on how citizens in Assam, India …

Earth Day At 47: Lessons For Sound Development

by Keith SchneiderApril 22, 2016April 22, 20161

OWENSBORO, KY — By now, the 47th observance of Earth Day, the point of summoning people to protect Mother Nature is clear. What started in 1970 as a call to action from the youthful wing of American society has matured into mainstream global operating principles for assuring that human life thrives in the 21st century. Essentially, that is what the founders of Earth Day anticipated. Earth Day was never just about preventing pollution or conserving …

Celebrating My 60th

by Keith SchneiderApril 18, 2016April 18, 20165

OWENSBORO, KY— I made it. Tomorrow, April 19, 2016 is my 60th birthday. It feels great. Purposeful. Definitive. Fully engaged. Fun. Turning 60 means you’ve been around for awhile. If I were a kitchen I’d have been remodeled at least three times. If I were a maple tree I’d be 80 feet tall. If I were a blue whale, I’d weigh 150 tons. Turning 60 means that you’ve learned a few things. You learn that …

Drought Influenced Syrian Civil War; So What?, Says U.S. Congress

by Keith SchneiderNovember 20, 2015November 21, 20150

A paper earlier this year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States added fresh, peer-reviewed details about how a malicious four-year (2007 to 2010) drought in Syria played a role in touching off a calamitous civil war in 2011. The long rein of water scarcity ruined the farm economy, and drove over 1 million farmers and their families into unstable resource-scarce cities inspired by the Arab Spring to rebel …