contraption maker surviving in the desert

Firstly, it essentially is the most important environmental negotiation ever conducted and people know that. HARE: I guess people are concerned for a couple of reasons.

Hare told me there's great concern that the Clinton plan has upset many of the negotiators. Bill Hare has been following the climate change negotiations since before the 1992 Rio summit, first as a diplomat from Australia, and most recently for Greenpeace. And business worries that it would hurt the economy. Other environmental groups say the Clinton plan doesn't go far enough to protect against climate change. They say the US has put something down on the negotiating table and promised to begin early action on climate change in the US. So far, the Clinton offer has drawn praise from some environmental groups. Clinton has also said developing nations must meaningfully participate in any Kyoto agreement, but as given no specifics. In contrast, more than 100 industrialized and developing nations, led by the European Union, want a 15% cut below the 1990 levels over the same period. It calls for emissions to be reduced to 1990 levels in 8 to 12 years. The US essentially wants an 8- to 12- year extension of the original voluntary targets set by the first climate change convention and signed by Mr. Things are slow in part because President Bill Clinton waited until October 22nd to finally unveil the US negotiating position, a position deeply at odds with what most of the other nations proposed months ago. But the current round of preparatory talks, now underway in Bonn, Germany, is bogged down. In December, more than 150 nations will meet in Kyoto, Japan, to ratify binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions. Time is running out for negotiators trying to draft a new treaty to combat global warming. (Music up and under) Climate Change UpdateĬURWOOD: This is Living on Earth. And any way we can keep the soil covered will help stem erosion.ĬURWOOD: This week on Living on Earth, coming up right after this summary of the news. JONES: The main thrust of this program is to protect the soil, to reduce the soil erosion. A political gloss on the fact that President Clinton is unable to bring himself to deal effectively with this issue.ĬURWOOD: Also, the possibilities of perennial wheat, the grain that's easy on the Earth. HARE: The actions proposed, in fact, if you wanted to be cynical about it, you could say they verge on being political window dressing. But some say the President's proposal is too little and too late. On his plate, a binding pledge to fight global warming. (16:25)ĬURWOOD: From National Public Radio, this is Living on Earth.īill Clinton brings his long-awaited plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions to the international bargaining table. But 50 years later other demands especially from urban Israel may be carving into that Zionist vision. And like the Arab farmers in old Palestine, Israelis now produce citrus and other crops for export. The founders of modern Israel believed it essential to harness Middle East waters to reconnect the Jewish immigrants with the land. Israel's control of these waters has long played a part in regional tensions. Israel captures the water of the Jordan River, along with aquifers lying beneath Israel and the West Bank, and pipes them into the desert. Yet, today, the Negev Desert is dotted with green.

This spring is one of the only natural sources of fresh water in the Negev, which covers more than half of the state of Israel. Israelis call it Ein Afdat (Ain-aff-DAHT), an ancient spring that provided respite to many Arab nomads may have even cooled Moses and the Israelites two thousand years ago. In a tiny, moist pocket of Israel's Negev Desert, a few miles from the Sinai Peninsula, there's a spring that bubbles out above a cliff and trickles down into a deep green pool in the Valley of Zin. Mideast Water Series: Nergev Ancient Spring / Sandy Tolan

Contraption maker surviving in the desert