Green Options

This column highlights the top economic stories of the week.

Reports of the demise of the U.S. dollar may be premature. But when some of the world’s most powerful investors are warning of the currency’s decline, investors take notice. More on this story here.

There are many cynics out there that critique and question the future of sustainable products and businesses. It’s easy to side with them, mostly because it’s difficult to understand what comprises a “sustainable” product which in turn creates a domino chain of skepticism about achievability. The industry is in self-defining mode and most of us lack the degrees in chemistry, biology, natural sciences or any other course of study that might support our inclination to trust what marketers tell us is “safe” and what is not. More on this story here.

Mumbai, India’s commercial capital, has grown quickly in recent decades - at the expense of its estuaries, environmentalist advocates say. More on this story here.

And the Oscar goes to…..Slumdog Millionaire!

Every once so often a wonderful movie about India wins a series of Oscars promising to finally put the face of this massive culture on the map. Gandhi, A Passage to India, Slumdog Millionaire. But after the initial euphoria, the world eventually goes back to life as they know it. This time, after sweeping the Oscars with eight awards, India’s slumdogs are headed back to the slums.

While Slumdog Millionaire will likely make quite a showing at the Oscars, actual dogs in Mumbai can now breathe a bit easier.

After pressure from PETA and frequent supporter Pamela Anderson, the Indian Supreme Court ruled that dogs must be sick, injured, or dangerous in order to be put down — much like the guidelines many shelters in the United States follow.

Anderson was instrumental in pushing for the new regulation. In a letter to the Mumbai municipal commissioner, she asked that the city consider a spay and neuter program to decrease the nuisance stray dog population instead of their current euthanasia routine.

In the world Islamic fundamentalism, most of us believe that terrorism is brought about by religious bias. But the terrorist might in fact have an economic motive. It is abundantly clear that he who risks and often sacrifices his own life in the very act of creating terror does not have a personal economic motive however it is likely that he is motivated to destroy economies. Wealth, abundance and prosperity after all symbolize the ‘evil’ that the Islamist sees as [...]

A few hours from now, the world will witness the next UN Climate Negotiations take place in Poznan, Poland. A few hours ago - Mumbai, the financial capital of India was struck by a terrorist attack - one the most coordinated acts of terror the world has seen till date.

Though on the outset, the two events have nothing in common (save for the fact that the Mumbai attacks led to the cancellation of the Live Earth event) and that climate change and terrorism are two diffrent challenges faced by our civilization today, the cause and consequences of the two are in some way pretty much the same. And in order to ensure a peaceful world, it is important that both these challenges are tackled - the earlier the better.

Terrorists stormed Mumbai, India’s commercial capital in a coordinated effort that has wreaked havoc over the entire city. The Taj and the Oberoi, Mumbai’s two leading hotels, Chatrapati Shivaji station, the main train station, Leopold Cafe in the Colaba area and several other spots including a gas station, hospitals and public areas near Mumbai’s domestic airport were attacked.

Does proximity to the sea give a city an advantage when it comes to sustainability rankings?

According to SustainLane who just released their 2008 Sustainable City rankings, city traits that are already set in stone like geography and layout play a huge role. Take the greenest cities in America: Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and New York. Four out of the five them are situated on the coast and were built before suburbia existed.