By Suzanne York, HowMany.org, February 2, 2012 This past January 24th the Santa Monica City Council unanimously approved a progressive sustainability bill of rights, building on the Santa Monica City Sustainability Plan first established back in 1994. The resolution calls on the city to “recognize the rights of people, natural communities, and ecosystems to exist,
[continue reading…]
By Suzanne York, HowMany.org, January 26, 2012 Most of the news we get about Afghanistan is negative and depressing. This is especially true where womens’ rights and reproductive health are concerned. But if we look hard, there are signs of hope. First, some cold hard facts. The population of Afghanistan today is 31 million
[continue reading…]
There has been a lot of news in the past week on teen pregnancy. Shockingly, a report by the Center for Disease Control found that one-third of teen mothers didn’t use birth control because they didn’t believe they could get pregnant. And for some good news on family planning, the Obama Administration announced it would
[continue reading…]
By Suzanne York, HowMany.org, January 17, 2012 photo: Creative Commons / Chin tin tin article.wn.com Some top thinkers recently gathered in Washington, DC to strategize on population, women’s rights and environment issues. Experts met at the Aspen Institute on January 12th to discuss “The Road to Rio: Climate Change, Population and Sustainability” and find
[continue reading…]
By Suzanne York, HowMany.org, January 12, 2012 A new study by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology predicts climate change will disrupt the delicate ecological balance between interdependent and often endangered plant and animal species. It will lead to reduced biodiversity and adversely affect the Earth’s water, energy, carbon and other
[continue reading…]
The sobering Global Risks Report 2012 was just released in advance of the World Economic Forum taking place later this month in Davos, Switzerland – an annual gathering of some of the top leaders in business, economics and politics. The report is based on a survey of 469 experts from industry, government, academia, and civil
[continue reading…]
By Suzanne York, HowMany.org, January 10, 2012 In a country that has one of the highest birthrates in South East Asia, a proposal to provide citizens free contraception sounds like a smart move. But in the Philippines, smart bumps up against culture and religion. With a population of over 95 million and a total fertility
[continue reading…]
Japan’s economy stronger than USA’s This is usually obfuscated by using total GDP to measure growth, but per-capita GDP growth in Japan for the past decade has been stronger in Japan than in the U.S. or the Euro Zone. We find it encouraging that even The Economist is noticing one of the pitfalls of relying
[continue reading…]
By Suzanne York for HowMany.org, Dec. 22, 2011 You wouldn’t know it from the news, given the focus on the payroll tax cut, but international family planning funding has squeaked through the 2012 omnibus spending bill without being drastically cut. This despite Republican threats to do so. The most cost-effective way to deal with carbon
[continue reading…]
By Suzanne York, HowMany.org, December 20, 201 Recently I came across a list of the world’s fastest growing cities and urban areas, as reported by the City Mayors Foundation, a U.K. think tank which encourages innovative and sustainable solutions to urban issues. I was rather shocked that the arid city of Sana’a, Yemen was third
[continue reading…]