Archive for the ‘Consumer Issues’ Category

Gasoline From Grass

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

Biofuel Grassoline – Gasoline From Grass
Gioietta Kuo
Augusr 8 2009
Senior Fellow, American Center for International Policy Studies  amcips.org

It present 25% of world energy is  consumed by transport  using mostly oil.  As oil is on the wane, new echnologies are appearing both in the kind of motor car we drive and the fuel we use.

It is true to say that most technologies  are  market driven, which in turn is determined by demand.  However, there are pitfalls in rushing headlong into  production with a  certain technology without some cool headed  long term analysis of the viability and  basic contradictions that might exist in the route  taken by the market.    For example the market may change or new technology may become available,  so that the production just initiated  becomes short lived  with the result that the capital put into production  cannot be recovered.

A good example of just this phenomenon is (more…)

Posted in Consumer Issues, Energy, Environment, Technology | Comments Off

Ethics and Animal Research

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

Sydney Yovic

Ethics and Animal Research

 

            Preface: The thoughts and opinions that I am attempting to disprove or debate are all intelligent arguments for animal research. As I explored this controversial subject, I ran into many of these same opinions coupled with religious belief. I must preface this paper by saying I have disregarded any and all statements made with religious tone or tradition with regards to animals and their importance or value according to all religions. The reason behind my religious neglect is fully based on the assumption that not everyone has the same religious beliefs or any at all so it is inappropriate to use religion as an argument to be taken seriously or refuted. 

      Because animals are a part of a moral community and they do not posses autonomy nor a representative protecting their best interest of life, it is unethical to use them as subjects for experimentation which causes pain and suffering as a means for producing benefit to humans. It is widely accepted that animals are able to feel pain and there are even guidelines requiring that animal pain and suffering be regulated, finite and justified. These guidelines to control animal pain in the course of research show evidence that animals’ pains are to be taken seriously, thus proving their lives hold some value. If the life of an animal has value, then the animal possesses a moral standing and should be considered a part of a moral community. When we accept animals as morally considerable, it is clear that harmful animal research of any kind is unethical. In this paper, I will argue that animals have a quality of life and consequently, it is morally wrong to victimize them as test subjects. I will also attempt to invalidate (more…)

Posted in Consumer Issues, Humanitarian | Comments Off

THE IMPORTANCE OF NUCLEAR ENERGY

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

by Gioietta Kuo

(Dr. Kuo is a Senior Research Fellow for the American Center for International Studies)

INTRODUCTION

About 2 years ago, the consensus of world’s eminent climatologists  like Sir David King and Dr James Hansen  were unified in their opinion that the world could survive eventually 450 ppm – parts per million, of CO2 (then at 385 ppm) in the atmosphere.  Even so, according to them, there is no time to lose, the world’s governments should adopt a radically different energy policy to eradicate fossil fuel use.    If we  continue business as usual in the next ten 10 years then the planet will reach a point of no return.

Since then, 2 years have passed, there has been no drastic reduction in CO2 emission in the world and CO2 concentration has increased by 2 ppm per year.  In the meantime, more and more signs of global warming, such as the sharp rise in arctic temperature and Greenland ice melt, together with an improved study of data of the earth’s
climate history have the climatologists alarmed.    Led (more…)

Posted in Consumer Issues, Energy, Environment | Comments Off

Future Of World’s Food Security

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

by Gioietta Kuo July 21 2008
Senior Fellow, American Center for international Policy Studies,  amcips.org

In a new book by Lester Brown: “ Ourgrowing The Earth, the food challenge in an age of falling water tables and rising temperatures”,  he makes the point that  as our population increases and our economy grows, our demand on the earth are growing, exceeding many of planets natural resources to provide food, water and other basic needs for us.  Evidence of these excessive demands are everywhere: collapsing fisheries, shrinking forests, expanding deserts, rising CO2 levels, eroding soils, rising temperatures, falling water tables, melting glaciers, deteriotrating grasslands, rising seas and river running dry.  In fact nearly all these environmental trends affect world’s food supply.

Indeed, we are reaching the limit of what we can draw from our planet.

In recent days, much talk has been concentrated on the shortage of oil and our energy security.   Although  energy is very important to us,  there are in fact much greater phenomena happening right in front of our eyes that will affect us even more – that is (more…)

Posted in Consumer Issues, Environment, Food, Globalization, Humanitarian | Comments Off

Good News for Consumers – Congress Reforms the CPSC – Food Safety Must Be Next

Tuesday, August 19th, 2008

On August 14, 2008, President Bush signed into law the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (the “Act”). This legislation, sponsored by Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR), comes a year after last summer’s recalls of millions of toys. It took the recalls and the deaths and hospitalizations of children resulting from magnets, collapsing cribs, lead trinkets, and toys filled with poisonous liquids to spur the federal government into action. The Chicago Tribune deserves (more…)

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$200 Oil – reprint of article in China Daily

Tuesday, June 17th, 2008

By Gioietta Kuo (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-10 08:08

 

As the price of oil exceeds $135 a barrel, Goldman Sachs, the New York investment bank, predicts that the oil price will reach $200 a barrel in the next year.

Mamdouh Salameh, advisor to the World Bank and UN Industrial Development Organization, said that if not for the Iraq War, the oil price would be $40 a barrel today. It is the United States’ and Britain’s invasion that led to the current oil crisis.

Iraq apart, although speculation must play a part, there are two fundamental reasons why the world is in a severe oil crisis.

First, there are many signs that oil is (more…)

Posted in Consumer Issues, Energy, Financial, Globalization, Technology | No Comments »

Heparin Contamination – Another Case Study for Corporate Social Responsibility

Friday, March 21st, 2008

Nineteen deaths and nearly 800 life-threatening allergic reactions may be linked to contaminated heparin sold by Baxter International Inc. (“Baxter”) of Deerfield, Illinois. Heparin is used as a blood thinner in cardiac surgery and kidney dialysis.  On March 20, 2008, (more…)

Posted in Consumer Issues, Globalization, News, Trade | No Comments »

Lead and Magnets – More News from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

On March 18, 2008, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that Reebok International Ltd. will pay a $ 1,000,000 civil penalty for importing and distributing charm bracelets that contained toxic levels of lead. In March 2006, a four year old boy from Minneapolis swallowed the bracelet’s heart shaped pendant and died.
The penalty is the largest for a violation of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA), which bans toxic levels of lead in toys and other children’s products. Reebok denied that it violated federal law in settling the matter according to the CPSC.
The million dollar fine will not bring the boy back to life. The CPSC took two years, since his tragic death to (more…)

Posted in Consumer Issues, Medical/health, News | No Comments »

The Court of Last Resort

Tuesday, March 11th, 2008

Although there were many previous incidents, the initial alarm regarding the seriousness, depth and breadth of China’s lack of food and toy safety began in March of 2007. This was the largest recall in history regarding the import of a product from China that was mixed with pet food. This resulted in the death of thousands of America’s (more…)

Posted in Consumer Issues, Globalization, Governance | No Comments »

Development In High Growth Corridors

Friday, January 18th, 2008

The Missing Ingredients For Sustainable Development  In High Growth Corridors

Over the last century there has been considerable interest in protecting the environment and during the last several decades in particular, there has been some progress in the creation of the general interest towards organic gardening, solar energy, wind energy, so called “green products” that are totally recyclable and the broad category of “sustainable development”.  (more…)

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