January 15 Those bright cold days that used to find their winter roosts in our valley? They haven’t returned yet this year. They had always come by now, before. But today is the same as yesterday and the days before; the air is wet enough to carry traffic sounds up from Franklin and the light comes … Continue reading A blindfold
More than 3,000 people gathered in central Manila on the morning of February 7, 2016, to push the city to dedicate more of its road space to its “carless citizens.” The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, or MMDA, partially closed a 5.5 km stretch of Roxas boulevard in the Intramuros region of the city, giving space … Continue reading 3,000 Claim Their Lane at Road Sharing Event in Manila
爥 A wildfire carried by wind, Consuming life before realization, so alive that rain-soaked moss withers and lights, Whips across miles, Like dust in a gentle breeze For the orbital lens An ember rests deep in the ashes Ripples its old light out in darkness The bond tears, the grain cracks And there, it flies free … Continue reading 爥, a poem.
Pictured above: Hanyang “Johnny” Wei stands on a beach near Hong Kong, that may soon be the site of a major liquified natural gas (LNG) importation terminal. Wei is the cofounder of CECA, the Cross-border Environmental Concern Association, which has worked successfully to reduce the project’s impact on local marine ecosystems. This piece is the second of a three-part series … Continue reading Local Climate: China’s Natural Gas Imports and the Fight for a Megacity’s Ecosystem
It may not look like much, but this developing waste management system may help communities deal with food and human waste, power public transportation and generate energy, all while lowering disease transmission rates. Biogas has faced a bumpy road so far and more challenges await, but the team of a startup project based in Southwest China thinks that now … Continue reading Untapped waste: Old technology sees new development in Southwest China
On November 29, 2015 people gathered together all around the world to show their support for real and lasting action on climate change. Their actions coincided with the beginning of the final week of this year’s COP21 negotiations in Paris. The following are photos from the Hong Kong branch of those protests, organized by local group … Continue reading Worldwide Climate March: Hong Kong
Editor’s note: This story comes to us from Molly Presson, a college classmate of mine. Molly studied Politics and Environmental Studies at Whitman College. She currently resides in Oakland, CA. Editorial A community that experiences high levels of poverty, homelessness and joblessness also experiences unusually high levels of pollution. West Oakland illustrates the parallel forces that … Continue reading Climate Change in West Oakland: Molly Presson
In the eyes of its residents, Guangzhou runs different. Where the last century saw Western influence purged from the buildings of South China, Guangzhou’s opulent colonial homes and old embassies stand repurposed into businesses, restaurants and galleries. People wistfully tell of the time Cantonese was almost chosen over Beijing dialect as the basis for Mandarin. They are quick to point out … Continue reading Rice Harmony: Growing an Organic CSA in the Pearl River Delta
This is Hong Kong. Markets invented from fishing villages and let to roam free, built up and pushed together into the most vertical city on earth. Imagine walking for a day in that city, the same footprint as Manhattan but with half again as many people, everything new but the things that ought not to be, everything in … Continue reading Hong Kong, 2015
Pictured above: Me, Li Luying (黎璐英) and Li Qiang (李强 ) , taking a break from the road near Huaihua (怀化) Three cars roll down out of the Hunan countryside, their lines bold and new. Golden hour sunlight warms three fresh coats of wax. The leader, bluebird against the unblemished white of its followers, pumps pop music out … Continue reading The Twisted, Hopeful World of Chinese Electric Vehicles
360 by bike 