Dealing with our discontents – the financial crisis and the environment
Published by the Green Alliance, in April 2008. For two decades the dominant force shaping the prosperity and security of everyone on the planet has been globalisation. The arrival together of very cheap communications and the end of the Cold War was a fortuitous conjuncture of technological and political breakthroughs. […]
Economics freezes nuclear frisson
‘View from the top’, published in Research Europe, April 2008. During last month’s state visit to Britain by French President Nicolas Sarkozy an entente formidable was proudly declared. One of the strongest ligatures in this new entente is to be close cooperation to make Europe the leader in a global drive […]
Crunch time for carbon
Winning the climate war: the role of regulation
Tom Burke’s Political Commentary: Infrastructure wars – the real battle begins
Published in the ENDS Report (Issue 398, p55), in March 2008. When the railways were built in the nineteenth century their developers faced the problem of acquiring the land where they could go. The solution was robust. Over 250 private bills were driven though Parliament usurping existing property rights for […]
Mining in the twenty first century
Published in Rio Tinto’s Review magazine, in February 2008. Mining coastal dunes for mineral sands is one of the most environmentally controversial of all forms of mining as the public furores over Saint Lucia and Madagascar make clear. Yet, as can clearly be seen at Richard’s Bay, the environmental footprint of […]
Tom Burke: ‘We are challenged by a democratic dilemma’
Published on SustainAbility, on 2nd February 2008 This is a great theme that is massively under discussed. At its highest level we are challenged by a democratic dilemma. To tackle the suite of issues surrounding a transition to sustainable development we must agree and adopt public policies governing many aspects […]