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The environment and the effects of climate change were at the center of legislative debate in many countries this year. The release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2014 draft treatise on global warming helped center legislators’ attention on the task at hand, but some countries still opted for the wait-and-see approach over regulatory fixes.

Here in the U.S., the response was equally inconsistent, thanks in part to a hearty push-back from the oil and gas sector and the gold-rush boom of the fracking industry in several states. But in those areas where climate change, dwindling resources or water issues were a concern, legislative options often took center stage.

The Keystone XL pipeline dilemma

Although the House bill to approve the Keystone Pipeline was defeated, Republicans supporting the project have vowed to unearth the issue next year when the party gains control of the Senate.

Minnesota heads back to the books

After North Dakota and several power companies sued the state, the district court ruled that the state’s requirement was a “classic example of extraterritorial regulation” that effectively conflicted with the U.S. Constitution because it impeded the federal regulation of commerce.

It was Michael Noble, executive director of the Minnesota nonprofit Fresh Energy, however, who put the outcome into current perspective.

“They won their litigation, but the world is moving on from coal.”

Goodbye coal, hello biomass

In other parts of Canada, however, environmental accomplishments weren’t nearly as notable. The federal Office of the Auditor General published a report this fall politely lambasting the government for its lack of progress on either finalizing or publishing updated regulations that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

To ban or not to ban?

In Texas, where oil companies have had almost unfettered access to the state’s abundant shale resources, one small burg is attempting to do the same. The city of Denton's ban has pitted it against the state’s  Railroad Commission, which issues fracking permits to oil and gas companies. According to the town’s attorney, fracking is a “public nuisance” and the city has the right to regulate “noise, increased heavy truck traffic, liquid spills, vibrations and other offensive results.” Other Texas cities are considering similar bylaws.

The U.S. Clean Power Plan

California’s environmental bounty

• In March, the Department of Toxic Substances Control implemented a new program that reviews substances commonly found in household products. The review process, which is directed at heightening consumer awareness, allows the agency to ban the substances it feels pose a danger to the public.


• The state also implemented the first stage of its revised flammability standard, which now allows furniture, carpet and upholstery manufacturers to drop chemical flame retardants from their products. The new standard relies upon smolder test results rather than the use of toxic chemicals. The changes recognize the efforts of both local and national organizations, including Kaiser Permanente, Safer Chemicals Healthy Families and the Center for Environmental Health in lobbying for changes to California’s regulatory standards.


• The Southern California city of Oxnard's unusual moratorium got headlines last July when it blocked efforts by the Mandalay Bay power plant to upgrade its facility by building a new one. The improved structure received a thumbs-down after environmental organizations were able to show that planners didn’t take rising tides and climate change into account.  The city hasn’t said how the ban would protect the power company’s aging facilities, but one thing is clear: The city of Oxnard, once known largely for its smoggy neighborhoods, has climate change, rising risks and future impacts clearly in its sights.

Image of President Obama speaking: Office of the President

If there’s one number that says all you need to know about the influence of the energy industry on the nation’s political discourse and direction, it’s $721 million.

A ThinkProgress report last week on the 2014 midterm election cycle found that after adding up direct contributions to individuals and political groups, including spending on TV ads and lobbying, the energy industry spent more than $721 million, citing an analysis from the Center for American Progress.

Not to put too fine a point on it: That huge amount of campaign spending buys a huge amount of influence in Congress. It helped elect fossil fuel-friendly candidates who will set the anti-environment agenda of the next Congress, which will be controlled by Republican majorities in the House and Senate.

In further proof that money always talks, the Center for American Progress noted that benefits for the fossil fuel industry started flowing even before the new Congressional session: “A legislative rider that was quietly attached to a major defense funding bill earlier this month marked a watershed change in the political fortunes of the coal, oil and gas industries and their return to power in Washington, D.C. The rider — which turns the Bull Mountains in Montana over to a Koch-connected, Houston-based company to be strip-mined for coal — is the fossil-fuel industry’s first major payoff from a three-quarters-of-a-billion-dollar investment to secure Republican control of Congress and to set the stage for a pro-coal, pro-drilling and anti-environment agenda in the new year.”

The 2014 midterms saw a wave of Republican candidates elected and re-elected to federal office, and according to ThinkProgress the new bosses will make the environment “the first casualty of the 114th Congress.”

The American Progress analysis — conducted with data from the Center for Responsive Politics and Kantar Media Intelligence — found that the energy industry as a whole gave $84 million to candidates, political parties and political action committees (PACs), spent $163 million on television ads, and paid nearly $500 million to Washington lobbyists in the two years leading up to the elections.

Environmental organizations also spent some big money during the 2014 midterm elections. However, the money was spent differently, and amounted to a fraction of the energy industry’s involvement.

Data from the Center for Responsive Politics revealed that environmental groups spent about $43 million on lobbying, while individual candidates and PACs received a combined $11.7 million since 2012. Unregulated “soft money” contributions made up the bulk of donations, with those groups receiving a combined $87 million from environmentalists.

In 2014, the oil and gas industry represented the fifth-largest lobbying interest in Washington. Electric utilities were the sixth-largest. The environmental advocacy industry did not crack the top 20 list. The number of environmental lobbyists’ clients also lags far behind the number of energy industry lobbying clients.

And then there are the billionaires: The anti-renewable energy Koch Brothers were estimated to have spent anywhere from $100 million to $300 million on the 2014 midterms through their various organizations, while environmentalist, philanthropist (and Center for American Progress board member) Tom Steyer is estimated to have spent about $74 million of his own money.

There’s nothing much new about the influence of oil, gas and coal money on America’s energy agenda, and while there is some encouragement perhaps from the increasing money coming from the green movement, the huge disparities in campaign spending and influence is both dispiriting and alarming. While the clock continues to tick frustratingly on climate change, the next two years in Congress promise to be even more frustrating.

It’s the best Congress pollution money can buy.

Image credit: Our Modern Dilemma by Andrew Hart via Flickr cc

Global, real-time communications would not be possible were it not for the 1,200-odd satellites orbiting the earth. By extension, globalization of culture, markets and the assembly of global businesses may well not have proceeded nearly as fast or to the degree it has were it not for satellite technology.

There were 1,235 satellites serving various purposes – from amateur radio to astrophysics – in various types of Earth orbit as of July 2014, according to a Union of Concerned Scientists' database. Over half – 639 – are for communications. The majority of communications satellites – or comsats – are in geostationary orbit, moving at the same speed as the Earth's rotation at fixed points along the equator, some 22,238 miles above our planet's surface.

We can add four more satellites to the roster of comsats orbiting Earth: Aiming to provide broadband Internet access to the “other 3 billion” human inhabitants that still lack high-speed voice and data network communications, “next-generation network” provider O3b Networks on Dec. 18 celebrated the successful launch of four comsats into medium-Earth orbit (MEO). That brings the number of satellites O3b has put into MEO in the past five months to eight. O3b's globe-spanning constellation of communications satellites now totals 12.

Bridging the 'digital divide'

Fully capitalized in November 2010, O3b went into full commercial service on Sept. 1, 2014 with a constellation of eight communications satellites. O3b initially offered over 4 gigabits per second (Gbps) of satellite broadband network access across the Pacific, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The Dec. 18 launch -- and ongoing efforts to bring the company's eight other comsats fully online -- bring the total network bandwidth it's able to offer in developing markets to over 100 Gbps, CEO Steve Collar told 3p in an interview.

Putting its satellites into medium-Earth, as opposed to lower-Earth or geostationary, orbit along the equatorial plane confers a number of advantages as O3b seeks to enhance the capacity, speed and reliability of the broadband Internet and cellular communications services its growing constellation of satellites affords providers. Collectively, the satellites enable Internet and telecommunications providers access to “fiber-quality” broadband network connectivity at rates affordable for those in developing countries worldwide that, up until now, haven't been able to afford them.

The addition of four more satellites to O3b's constellation of MEO-comsats enables the company “to deliver connectivity that combines the reach of satellite with the speed of fiber, providing customers with affordable, low latency, high bandwidth connectivity,” Arianespace highlighted in a press release.

Multiple spot beams from medium-Earth orbit

Upon going live in about six weeks time, the four new satellites will do more than add a significant amount of bandwidth and expand O3b's geographic coverage area. They will boost the overall performance of its constellation of communications satellites, Collar explained.

“The new four will slot nicely in our constellation. Every single link becomes makes the entire constellation more efficient. All the links will all get better; every one's performance improves, and that will continue ...We can launch more than 100 satellites in these same orbits. That's our work plan through 2015.”

On the hunt for new customers, Collar highlighted the dramatic and rapid increase in network traffic and demand experienced by O3b network providers in developing markets around the world. “We originally deployed 200 megabits per second (Mbps) for Raga Telecom in Kinshasa; they now have 800 Mbps.

"Fiber-quality" wireless broadband in far-flung places

“We designed our satellite system to deliver fiber-quality broadband at a lower cost per megabit. The best proof of concept is in the operations, the fact we have seen growth in Kinshasha, Papua New Guinea, East Timor – at least triple in terms of network usage.”

Besides telecoms and Internet service providers, O3b is offering satellite broadband network access to large business enterprises in other sectors. “We're completely flexible in terms of where we point our beams,” Collar pointed out. For instance, O3b is providing over 500 Mbps of bandwidth to each of Royal Caribbean's three largest cruise ships – the largest in the world.

“We're a middle-mile provider – we don't go direct to end-users. We contract directly with large enterprises. The way to get to you is through telcos, cable companies and ISPs,” Collar elaborated.

“SES is a very important shareholder,” Collar said. In addition to being O3b's largest investor, SES 'flies' O3b's satellites under contract. Similarly, other key shareholders, such as Google and Liberty Global, are not only investors but also customers and suppliers.

These investors, Collar noted, “are already our customers as we are of them.” O3b is buying network capacity from some of its investor-business partners. At present, O3b has signed up 15 such customers. Looking ahead to 2015, management expects to double that in early 2015 after just over three months since the launch of its satellite broadband network.

*Image credits: O3b Networks Limited

It has been a challenge at times to get well-heeled and sometimes highly influential people to care about climate change. After all, having a great deal of money can serve to insulate someone from problems that afflict those less fortunate. Food prices going up, for example, not that big a deal. Coastal areas flooding out, go somewhere else for vacation. Many of those at the top of the heap are finding that business-as-usual is working very well for them, thank you very much. Besides, they might have significant investments in industries that could be threatened by changing to a more sustainable model

Perhaps, what is needed to get their attention is something that hits closer to home. Here is an item in England’s The Telegraph that might fit the bill: Apparently, rising temperatures in areas like France, Italy and Spain are affecting the flavor of certain wines. The grapes that are used in the production of certain wines, like pinot noir, are growing more quickly than before.

What that means, according to Kimberly Nicholas, a wine industry consultant, is that “as the atmosphere warms, the desired ratio of acid to sugar occurs earlier in the season.” That challenges the vineyards to deduce the ideal time to pick the grapes.   Ms. Nicholas, an associate professor of sustainability science at Lund University in Sweden, warned that vineyards are finding it difficult to know the perfect moment to pick the grapes in order to retain a wine’s signature taste. The grapes may no longer produce the unique flavors that wine fanciers have come to associate with their favorite reds and whites.
One university study of the impact of a changing climate on the wine industry, performed in Pennsylvania, found that: “The sugar levels mature too quickly, while the flavors lag behind. As the vintner waits to harvest the grapes until the flavor is fully developed, they sacrifice the acidity, resulting in a 'flabby' wine (high alcohol content as a result of high sugar levels with very little returned acidity)."

How are vineyards responding?

The value of the global wine business is estimated at close to $200 billion. This is not to say that people are going to suddenly stop drinking wine, but if their favorite varieties are no longer available, some people might look elsewhere for their enjoyment.

Many aspects of our modern lifestyle will require these kinds of adjustments, particularly food and drink.  But few things have come to epitomize the good life as much as a glass of fine wine.

Another study, in Australia, found that wine grape quality could be expected to reduce by anywhere between 7 percent and 39 percent by 2030 and by as much as 76 percent by 2050. Of course, new varieties will likely be developed that can hopefully provide better quality in these new conditions. But this will take some time, and in the meantime some people might turn away from wine as their drink of choice, especially if prices go up.

Will this represent a wakeup call, a message delivered into the inner sanctum of those benefiting the most from our status quo and least inclined to want to change? Only time will tell. But as time goes on, more and more of these changes will continue to exert pressure on every aspect of life.

Image credit: def1 10: Flicker Creative Commons

RP Siegel, PE, is an author, inventor and consultant. He has written for numerous publications ranging from Huffington Post to Mechanical Engineering. He and Roger Saillant co-wrote the successful eco-thriller Vapor Trails. RP, who is a regular contributor to Triple Pundit and Justmeans, sees it as his mission to help articulate and clarify the problems and challenges confronting our planet at this time, as well as the steadily emerging list of proposed solutions. His uniquely combined engineering and humanities background help to bring both global perspective and analytical detail to bear on the questions at hand.

Follow RP Siegel on Twitter.

This year’s battle over the fate of a supermarket chain is emblematic of the dilemma that will continue to face American businesses in 2015: extracting maximum value for shareholders or reinvesting in workers’ long-term value.

By Toni Johnson

A stunning joint worker-executive action brought thousands to the street to rally for more than 10 straight weeks in 2014 — not for better pay or benefits, but to reinstate ousted CEO Arthur T. Demoulas to the New England supermarket chain Market Basket.

The move was another incident of a bitter, decades-long feud with his cousin Arthur S. Demoulas over control of their grandfather's company. The saga could easily be named a "Tale of Two Arthurs." More importantly, it could herald a new chapter in a wider battle over low-income worker treatment in corporate America that will continue to resonate in 2015.

What’s all the fuss about? Market Basket offers prices lower than Walmart and pays their workers a starting wage well above the state’s minimum, as well as offering profit-sharing, bonuses and a 401(k) plan, with no union strong-arming them to do it. As Sally Kohn at CNN notes, Market Basket’s experienced cashiers make $40,000 a year -- nearly double the industry average -- and stores charge 10 to 20 percent lower than their competitors. Their management structure is small, high-touch and contains long-time employees promoted from within. The $4.6 billion company took in $240 million in profits in 2013, while investing in new stores (numbers currently stand at 71) and paying shareholders healthy dividends in the last decade. Ask the big boys out there fighting against a minimum wage increase, and they’ll try to sell that running a company this way will put you in the poorhouse.

Arthur T.'s close relationship with his employees -- and stewardship of a successful and growing business -- is what led employees and some executives to revolt in the summer of 2014, leaving unmanned stores and empty shelves.

"Market Basket represents an increasingly rare business culture, one where workers are unusually well paid and willing to put their jobs on the line to force the reinstatement of a beloved boss who made them feel valued," writes Callum Borshers in the Boston Globe. "All this at a time when most workers fret about job security and don’t know who owns their companies."

Although new co-CEOs Felicia Thornton and Jim Gooch argued "the direction of the company has not changed,” part of the fight between the two Arthurs was over the amount paid out to shareholders in dividends. The previous year, Arthur T. sought an injunction to stop the payout of $300 million in dividends approved by the board.

"The payout is a victory for the wing of the Demoulas family that contends that CEO Arthur T. Demoulas has been much too generous in profit-sharing with employees, while cheating the owners," contended a 2013 Boston Globe editorial. "Shareholders have already received $500 million in dividends over the last decade, but the branch of the family headed by Arthur S. Demoulas has reportedly sought as much as $1.5 billion."

This debate over paying out high dividends versus reinvesting in the company, particularly workers, extends well beyond Market Basket. The idea of maximizing shareholder value is a goal that reshaped corporate America, writes the Washington Post's Jia Lynn Yang. "It used to be a given that the interests of corporations and communities … were closely aligned," Yang wrote in 2013. "But no more. Across the United States, as companies continue posting record profits, workers face high unemployment and stagnant wages."

Some are hopeful that this way of doing business is on its way out. The Drucker Institute's Richard Warztman says sure, some people will be greedy, but most people go into business to add value to society. "They hate the pressure, from Wall Street and elsewhere, to focus on short-term financial metrics," Warztman argued in Time magazine. He added that he and others need to step up “attempts to devise unconventional, but highly credible, measures that give a more holistic picture of what a healthy company looks like — how such an enterprise is not only profitable, but also fosters customer satisfaction, treats its employees well, continually innovates and plans effectively for the future."

It seems clear Market Basket is just the type of company he is describing.

Employees at Market Basket feared the ultimate resolution would be the sale of the company to someone other than Arthur T., who has put in his own bid to buy out the other shareholders. Esquire Magazine’s Chris Faraone argued it’s the fate of the middle class that’s on the line. “If Arthur T. fails in his attempt to buy the company back, and the cousin who booted him sells out to a conglomerate as expected, there's a chance this grand experiment will disappear forever,” Faraone wrote. “It would become a bellwether for a corporate America that has created a caste for itself, where workers can only expect to be treated fairly until the rug they have made is eventually pulled out from beneath them.”

The standoff has come to an apparent end, with the New York Times reporting the success of Arthur T.’s bid to purchase the 50.5 percent share of the company not already owned by him and his allies.  He will return immediately to the daily business of running the company. In the New York Times, MIT's Thomas A. Kochan said the episode showed that “the employees are the most valuable asset in this business. …Market Basket has done more to educate us on how to manage a business than any business case study that’s been written to date,” he said.

In a moving speech to his cheering employees, Arthur T. said “I am in awe of what you have all accomplished, and the sterling example you have all set for so many people across the region and across the country.

As we enter 2015, all U.S. CEOs should to take note. Market Basket is a shining example of why valuing low-level workers is part of the business value chain. Many service workers have recently taken to the streets to fight for higher pay and better treatment. Here, workers are fighting for a profitable company they value as an employer. Seems like a no brainer which is the better business scenario. Hopefully it will spark a wider discussion on short-termism’s effect on labor.

Toni Johnson is Vice President of Knowledge and Influence for the F.B. Heron Foundation. The mission of the F.B. Heron Foundation is to help people & communities help themselves prosper, especially those that are economically disadvantaged. We are looking for ways to help rebalance the economy so that it ensures opportunity for all.

By Debbie Fletcher

New year, new start. That should be the motto for your business as you take a back seat for 2015 and delegate to your capable staff. This leaves you more time to search for new team leaders to help you out with the important tasks as well as get yourself organized schedule wise (personally I've had a lot of success with Exec-Appointments, but we all have our favorite sources).

If you’re wondering what you should be focusing your time and attention on for 2015, then take a look at these top tips.

1. Let those around you shine

2. Boost morale

You might have heard more about the negative side of open-plan offices than the positive. Yes, they can be a little noisier and everyone has different needs when it comes to being comfortable, but open offices also allow people to communicate more easily and see when co-workers are busy. But don’t sit in your own private office, away from the team. Park your computer in the middle, so everyone can see and speak to you when necessary.

If people don’t like the idea of an open-plan office, you could provide noise-canceling headphones for each computer, so they can subtly warn others that they are busy while enjoying a little quiet and even personal music while working. You are never going to please everyone, so go with what you think will work best then combat any issues from there.

3. Keep people informed

4. Use your time wisely

Use a task manager, such as Basecamp, and assign to-dos to your team, which you can check have been ticked off by a certain deadline so you are still in the loop.

5. Stop using your email

You can always send an email after your conversation to confirm what was said if you really need to. Just don’t be that leader who hides behind their computer screen sending out emails that can easily be taken the wrong way.

Image credit: Flickr/adforce1

Debbie Fletcher is an enthusiastic, experienced writer who has written for a range of difference magazines and news publications.

By Alison DaSilva

2014 was a landmark year for corporate social responsibility (CSR). In the past 365 days we saw more than 2.4 million people willingly douse themselves in ice-cold water, a football stadium-sized clothing recycling effort, ketchup turned into cars and ugly vegetables take the main stage.

Companies took CSR efforts to the next level and consumers responded with enthusiasm and participation. As the year comes to a close, Cone Communications has evaluated a year’s-worth of CSR tracking to share the top 10 trends of 2014. 

1. (Un)selfish selfies

When technology giant Microsoft launched the Nokia Lumia 735 phone, it included an online auction dubbed "The Selfie Collection," where fashion bloggers modeled the items donated to benefit the Children’s Helpline International. More grassroots efforts like the “no makeup selfie” and the HIV Shower Selfie Challenge also helped individuals show the world the issues they care about.

2. Waste not, want not

3. Powering up girl power

4. Pay it forward pays off

On Dec. 7, the ticket brought police force veteran James from Long Beach, California to Boston to pay his respects to those affected by the Boston Marathon Bombings. HP helped employees pay it forward by giving each employee $25 to lend to borrowers on Kiva with its Matter to a Million effort. By March of 2014, HP employees had already made more than $2.3 million in loans to help farmers, teachers, doctors and business owners, with some employees donating even more from their own pockets.

5. Calling all collections

6. Take back gains traction

7. Employee rights resurgence

8. CSR entertains

9. Reporting on impact ramps up

10. Digital is #trending

--

As CSR continues to be a priority, we are seeing tremendous advancements by companies to make their efforts more approachable and accessible for diverse stakeholders. Companies are being more creative throughout their supply chain, taking the guess work out of responsible shopping and meeting stakeholders where they are – increasingly digital – with the content that inspires action. There is no question; we will see more innovations in 2015. It may surprise us, shock us, but mostly likely it will impress us as companies continue to push the limits of progress and meaningful engagement.

Want to know what’s new and trending in CSR and cause marketing all year long? Sign up for the Prove Your Purpose newsletter for the latest innovations and insights.

Image credit: Amodiovalerio Verde, Flickr

The B Corp movement continues its momentum, with almost 1,200 certified B corporations spread across 37 nations. Earlier this year the first electricity utility achieved B Corp certification. And last week the “Impact Economy” organization scored its first publicly owned company and largest addition to date: Natura, the second largest cosmetics manufacturer in Brazil with revenues around $US3 billion annually.

Natura, founded in 1969, has always beaten taken a different drum compared to its competitors within the cosmetics sector. The company’s products are generally based on native Brazilian flora, provided such plants can be harvested in a sustainable manner as required by the company’s “bioprospecting” policy. The same products have long been encased in packaging made from recycled or at least recyclable materials. Natura is also a founding member of the Union for Ethical BioTrade and has been praised for including everyday women in its advertising campaigns instead of supermodels. This new B Corp certification will not only burnish Natura’s reputation in the marketplace, but will have more far reaching effects as well.

Just consider the number of people who will be affected, and even inspired, by working for a recognized social enterprise. Over 7,000 employees work at the company’s headquarters in Cajamar, near Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city. Using a direct sales model, Natura relies on a network of 1.6 million people, mostly women, selling its products across several countries. The company also sources from over 30 supplier communities and about 3,100 family-run businesses. For B Corporation, these numbers represent a massive opportunity to evangelize even further the benefits of partnering with a company that emphasizes social enterprise. The new certification also sends a message to Natura’s competitors that conducting a business in a social and environmental way can also be profitable.

The benefits that Natura employees enjoy are one reason why it was able to achieve B Corp certification. The company commits to a significant amount of training time more most of its employees. About 75 percent of those employees participate in Natura’s profit-sharing plan. Full-time employees also receive supplemental insurance plans. Diversity is not only talked about, it is the norm, with approximately half of all managers are women.

While Natura emphasizes social responsibility within the company, it also practices what it preaches. The biggest example of how the Natura’s message was amplified was when its co-chair, Guilherme Leal, ran as the vice presidential candidate for Brazil’s Green Party in the 2010 elections. Natura representatives have also vigorously lobbied for environmental reform throughout and beyond Brazil. Finally, the company contributes three percent of profits to local community organizations.

Considering Brazil’s polarized political climate and conservative business community, Natura has accomplished much by going again the grain. Companies abroad would benefit their overall triple bottom line, and the communities in which they operate, but following this company’s lead.

Image credit: Natura

Based in California, Leon Kaye has also been featured in The Guardian, Clean Technica, Sustainable Brands, Earth911, Inhabitat, Architect Magazine and Wired.com.

Laissez-faire capitalists would have us believe that "free," unregulated markets and the relentless pursuit of economic growth are the best means of enhancing overall quality of life for the world’s 7-plus billion people [update]. Others note that every system has, and needs, governing rules and that given the authority by their populaces, governments need to provide an essential counterbalance to unbridled greed and the pursuit of monetary and material wealth by individuals and organizations.

Aiming to move beyond GDP as a measure of a society's overall economic performance, the Inclusive Wealth Index (IWI) factors social and natural, as well as produced, capital into the equation. Results of the second biennial Inclusive Wealth Report revealed stark differences in 140 nations' economic performance over the decade to 2012 as measured by GDP and the IWI.

Economic abstractions aside, living conditions and quality of life in megacities around the world offer a stark vision of just where unbridled industrialization, ideas of 'laissez-faire' economics and the relentless pursuit of GDP growth lead. It's not a pretty, or encouraging, picture. As The Guardian's Ian Wainwright recently reported from Beijing, air and other environmental pollution in this capital city of some 21 million has made it “almost uninhabitable.”

Beijing's "airpocalypse"

Wooed and ushered into the global economy by multinational businesses, the U.S., EU and other governments, China has been industrializing at an unprecedented rate to become the uncontested manufacturing base for a global economy. Nearly three decades since opening its doors to world markets and beginning to institute legislative and regulatory reforms that would create its own version of a market-driven economy, China is now home to the world's second largest economy in GDP terms.

While this has created boundless wealth for a few and improved material and economic conditions for the masses generally, it has come at a tremendous cost in terms of human and environmental health. In a Guardian article, entitled “Inside Beijing's airpocalypse – a city made 'almost uninhabitable' by pollution,” Wainwright offers a portrait of what relentless and rapid industrialization and GDP growth is having on Beijing's residents, businesses, institutions, and fundamental ecosystems and services.

One illustration: Beijing's top-flight international private schools – where tuition and fees for primary and secondary education can run in excess of $30,000 per year – are in a competition to build domes that encase students in “an artificial bubble.”

Spending extraordinary amounts to shelter students from the toxic air and environmental pollution found outside is seen as a necessity in order to stem an exodus of students' families from China's capital. As Wainright reports:

The “International School of Beijing lavished £3m [~$4.67 million] on a pair of domes covering an area of six tennis courts, with hospital-grade air-filtration systems, following the lead of the Beijing satellite of exclusive British private school Dulwich College, which opened its own clean-air dome last year.

“It’s as if the 21-million-strong population of the Chinese capital is engaged in a mass city-wide rehearsal for life on an inhospitable planet. Only it’s not a rehearsal: the poisonous atmosphere is already here.”

A bitter irony

In his report, Wainright also offers examples of the outrageous, and outrageously expensive, prospective solutions scientists and engineers are proposing and city leaders and planners are considering.

Whether it's climate change, deforestation and land use change or industrialization, there's bitter irony in our pursuit of GDP growth and our search for and efforts to implement increasingly complex and expensive measures to assure cities and our planet are habitable for humans. While it may seem increasingly ludicrous, even borderline insane, it's great for GDP.

*Image credits: 1) NRDC; 2) NASA Earth Observatory

Cyclists have ample space to store their bikes at ANZ offices