conservation

Sustainability programs are a Goldilocks proposition – some groups are too big, some are too small, and the environment benefits when the size of a group of people working to save it is just right.

It has long been debated how many people working together can change the world. Whether it’s joining forces to conserve gas, save a forest or stave off climate change, arguments have been made for the power of a dedicated few or the strength of numbers. It also has been a mystery what tips a group dynamic from powerful to unproductive.

Chuck Leavell divides his time between rocking and growing -- as a musician who for 30 years has toured for the likes of The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, John Mayer and more on piano and keyboards. Off-stage he is a conservationist who owns and operates a tree farm -- Charlane Plantation -- in Macon, Ga. 

CSIS director Jack Liu is on of several researchers examining China's effort to protect its environmental assets, which is featured in a New Scientist article. Liu notes that even though China suffers enormous environmental damage, it also is ahead of most other countries in recognizing -- and acting on -- the assault on its natural resources.