Fidelity Investments is Bullish on the Environment

Fidelity Investments--one of the largest investment companies in the world--is encouraging people to think positively about investing in companies that are oriented toward improving the environment:

“I believe environmental innovation will be one of the key growth drivers for the economy in the coming decades, similar to how information technology has been since the 1980s,” says Anna Davydova, portfolio manager of the new Fidelity Select Environment and Alternative Energy Portfolio. “Billions of people in the developing world are aspiring to achieve the developed countries' standard of living, including modern homes, automobiles, infrastructure, and a better diet,” says Davydova. “As a result, demand for the world's supply of energy, water, and other resources has been growing rapidly.” She believes these factors will drive global demand for a more diverse mix of energy resources–both traditional and alternative–as well as increased focus on energy independence and pollution control.

Yet More Agony in Afghanistan

The status of women is central to the pace and shape of demographic change anywhere in the world. Unfortunately, Afghanistan has long been the poster child for the poor treatment of women, and a new story has emerged to highlight the plight of young women in that country.The July 29, 2010 cover of Time featured a photograph of and story about a girl who had been married at a very young age to a member of the Taliban. She had run away and when caught, her husband cut off her nose and ears. She survived and was taken in by a charitable organization that has brought her to the United States for reconstructive surgery. Women seem to be scarcely more than chattel in Afghanistan and it is a tragedy for humans to be treating other humans in this way here in the 21st century.

How Easily Can We Feed the World?

It is encouraging to see that people are still talking about how to feed the world's growing population. However, the special report this week by Nature.com is a little disconcerting. The emphasis is on what science can do, without any real consideration of the massive social, economic and political changes required to implement the hypothesized scientific advances, even if they were to come to fruition.