Poverty and Climate Change: on my reading list

Ever since Al Gore and Bono spoke together, I’ve been thinking more about how global climate change and extreme poverty are inextricably linked. I’ve been very adamant about my belief that we can end extreme poverty in our lifetime. Yet, more and more, I’ve been wondering if that has to be a qualified statement…that it’s true IF we don’t enter an era of destructive climate change. Whether or not global warming is a human-made event is really irrelevant if it comes to pass. Questions in my mind revolve around what sort of policies will be necessary to deal with climate refugees and the effects of widespread drought. I think I need to know more. Two books are on my reading list to educate myself more about this stuff. I’ll put a little about them, leaning heavily on Amazon.com reviews since I haven’t read them.

The first book is “Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet” by Jeffrey Sachs. If it’s anything like “The End of Poverty” it will probably be a pretty tough read, but an important one. Sachs is an optimistic economist tackling some of the most depressing problems of our time. The nice part is that he offers solutions. This book focuses on heading off global warming and environmental destruction, stabilizing the world’s population, ending extreme poverty and breaking political logjams that hinder global cooperation on these issues. In tonight’s Daily Show interview, I liked how he spoke of these issues as problems we share with the whole planet, even our “enemies.” He says that Darfur is mainly a conflict over water and that we have no hope of bringing peace to that area unless we address the water issue as well as bringing in military.

The second book is “The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations” by Brian Fagan. He writes about a period of history (800-1300) characterized as a medieval warming period. It brought great disasters for some parts of the world, which he says caused the collapse of the Mayan civilization and played a part in the Mongol incursions into Europe. Fagan notes how times of intense, sustained global warming can have particularly dire consequences. For example, by 2025, an estimated 2.8 billion of us will live in areas with increasingly scarce water resources. If that’s true, to me, that sounds like many more people will be considering going to war for water.

Link to read the actual Global Poverty Act

Look what I found! The Global Poverty Act itself. If you would like to look at it for yourself, take a gander at this link.

http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:S.2433:

I just read it and, as promised, it has no mention of any specific amount of money to be put into a Presidential plan for development assistance, despite what Limbaugh and Kincaid might be saying. Here are the meaty parts of it:

"SEC. 3. DECLARATION OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States to promote the reduction of global poverty, the elimination of extreme global poverty, and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of people worldwide, between 1990 and 2015, who live on less than $1 per day.

SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT TO DEVELOP COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY.
(a) Strategy- The President, acting through the Secretary of State, and in consultation with the heads of other appropriate departments and agencies of the United States Government, international organizations, international financial institutions, the governments of developing and developed countries, United States and international nongovernmental organizations, civil society organizations, and other appropriate entities, shall develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to further the United States foreign policy objective of promoting the reduction of global poverty, the elimination of extreme global poverty, and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of people worldwide, between 1990 and 2015, who live on less than $1 per day.
(b) Content- The strategy required by subsection (a) shall include specific and measurable goals, efforts to be undertaken, benchmarks, and timetables to achieve the objectives described in subsection (a).
(c) Components- The strategy required by subsection (a) should include the following components:
(1) Continued investment or involvement in existing United States initiatives related to international poverty reduction, such as the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7601 et seq.), the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.), and trade preference programs for developing countries, such as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (19 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.).
(2) Improving the effectiveness of development assistance and making available additional overall United States assistance levels as appropriate.
(3) Enhancing and expanding debt relief as appropriate.
(4) Leveraging United States trade policy where possible to enhance economic development prospects for developing countries.
(5) Coordinating efforts and working in cooperation with developed and developing countries, international organizations, and international financial institutions.
(6) Mobilizing and leveraging the participation of businesses, United States and international nongovernmental organizations, civil society, and public-private partnerships.
(7) Coordinating the goal of poverty reduction with other development goals, such as combating the spread of preventable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, increasing access to potable water and basic sanitation, reducing hunger and malnutrition, and improving access to and quality of education at all levels regardless of gender.
(8) Integrating principles of sustainable development and entrepreneurship into policies and programs.
(d) Reports-
(1) INITIAL REPORT-
(A) IN GENERAL- Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President, acting through the Secretary of State, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the strategy required under subsection (a).
(B) CONTENT- The report required under subparagraph (A) shall include the following elements:
(i) A description of the strategy required under subsection (a).
(ii) An evaluation, to the extent possible, both proportionate and absolute, of the contributions provided by the United States and other national and international actors in achieving the Millennium Development Goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of people worldwide, between 1990 and 2015, who live on less than $1 per day.
(iii) An assessment of the overall progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of people worldwide, between 1990 and 2015, who live on less than $1 per day.
(2) SUBSEQUENT REPORTS- Not later than December 31, 2012, and December 31, 2015, the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees reports on the status of the implementation of the strategy, progress made in achieving the global poverty reduction objectives described in subsection (a), and any changes to the strategy since the date of the submission of the last report."

NY Times Op-ed: "Poverty is Poison"

Today's NY TImes ran an op-ed called "Poverty is Poison" by Paul Krugman. It highlights domestic childhood poverty by citing some recent studies and giving an overview of the history of childhood poverty in our nation. This one deserves some nice LTE's to let them know we want to read more like it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/opinion/18krugman.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=poverty&st=nyt&oref=slogin

Here are some quotes:
"Living in or near poverty has always been a form of exile, of being cut off from the larger society. But the distance between the poor and the rest of us is much greater than it was 40 years ago, because most American incomes have risen in real terms while the official poverty line has not. To be poor in America today, even more than in the past, is to be an outcast in your own country. And that, the neuroscientists tell us, is what poisons a child’s brain."

"Poverty rates are much lower in most European countries than in the United States, mainly because of government programs that help the poor and unlucky. And governments that set their minds to it can reduce poverty. In Britain, the Labor government that came into office in 1997 made reducing poverty a priority — and despite some setbacks, its program of income subsidies and other aid has achieved a great deal. Child poverty, in particular, has been cut in half by the measure that corresponds most closely to the U.S. definition."

Thank you to my online friend, Birdalone, for forwarding a great piece!

Sustainability can help reduce poverty

While we're waiting for more Farm Bill news from the Senate, here's a diversion from breadblog.org. It combines two of my favorite things (right up there with raindrops on roses): poverty reduction and sustainability.

"The Nature Conservancy released a study today about poverty reduction and conservation. Researchers interviewed over 1,000 people from 3 different countries about the impact of marine protected areas on quality of life and income. Some villagers saw their income double as a result of conservation efforts. This is a great example of countries who are working to achieve Millennium Development Goal #7 - ensure environmental sustainability. "

How Marine Protected Areas Help Alleviate Poverty (a site containing a preview of a longer 15 min video)
http://www.nature.org/initiatives/protectedareas/howwework/art23185.html

Poverty, health and stress

Her's a brief interview about poverty and health problems. A researcher explained that it's much more than just poor people not having access to health care, clean water or food. The effects of chronic stress experienced by the poor is the researcher's area of focus. There is the behavioral "I can't be bothered to see eat right or exercise, I have bigger problems" issue, but his research focused on the physiological stress changes that increase risk for diabetes, heart disease, mental illness, etc.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14261615