The Global Politics of Whaling

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Japan wants to catch more whales than it's allowed, whaling rights for Eskimos have been extended for another five years, and Norway and Iceland continue to hunt whales in significant numbers--all under an international moratorium on whaling. Guest host Sara Terry explores the horse-trading over the whale catch at this week's meeting of the International Whaling Commission.  Also, President Bush calls for a global reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions and, on Reporter's Notebook,  fear and celebration in Lebanon as the UN Security Council decides to create prosecute the assassins of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri.

Photo: Ian Waldie/Getty Images

Making News

President Bush Announces Proposal for Reducing Greenhouse Gases ()

President Bush today called for fifteen major nations to agree by the end of next year on a global emissions goal for reducing greenhouse gases. The President's announcement, which comes in advance of next week's G8 Summit, is aimed at blunting international criticism of the US record on climate change.  Juliet Eilperin is national environmental reporter for the Washington Post.

Guests:

• Juliet Eilperin: National Environmental Reporter for the Washington Post

Links:

• Kyoto Protocol

Main Topic

Debate Continues at the International Whaling Commission ()

This week, as two wandering whales in northern California make international headlines, the International Whaling Commission is meeting in Anchorage, Alaska.  Despite a 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling ban, more than two thousand whales were caught last year. Japan wants to catch more whales than it's currently allowed, whaling rights for Eskimos have been extended for another five years, and Norway and Iceland continue to hunt whales in significant numbers. Is it possible to hunt whales on a sustainable basis? What kind of scientific research is yielded from whales killed under a loophole in the moratorium? What about the rights of indigenous communities that depend on whaling? What role does public opinion about the environment play in these talks?  Sara Terry guest hosts.

Guests:

• Patrick Ramage: Manager of the International Fund for Animal Welfare's Global Whale Program
• Glen Inwood: Spokesperson for Japan's delegation to the International Whaling Commission
• Justin Cooke: Scientist specializing in whale-population dynamics
• Rune Frovik: Secretary of the High North Alliance

Links:

• BBC on Japanese and whaling

Reporter's Notebook

UN to Create Tribunal on Hariri's Death ()

This week's decision by the United Nations Security Council to establish a tribunal for prosecuting those responsible for the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, has been greeted with cheers and fears. Lebanon's current US-backed Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora, asked the UN to step in after the country's opposition-aligned parliament speaker refused to convene a session to ratify the creation of a tribunal. The UN's intervention has raised hopes for justice, fears about fresh violence, and has been condemned by militants. Michael Young is opinion editor of Lebanon's Daily Star.

Guests:

• Michael Young: Opinion Editor for the Daily Star

Links:

• UN’s International Independent Investigation Commission on death of Hariri

Host

Sara Terry

A former staff correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor and magazine freelance writer, Sara Terry made a mid-career transition into photojournalism and documentary photography in the late 1990's. Her long-term project about the aftermath of war in Bosnia, Aftermath: Bosnia’s Long Road to Peace, was published in September 2005. Her work has been widely exhibited, at such venues as the United Nations, the Museum of Photography in Antwerp, and the Moving Walls exhibition at the Open Society Institute in New York. Her photographs are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and in many private collections. In 2005, she received a prestigious Alicia Patterson Fellowship for her work in Bosnia. She is also the founder of The Aftermath Project, a nonprofit grant program which helps photographers cover the aftermath of conflict. She resides in Los Angeles and is currently working on her next long-term project, Forgiveness and Conflict: Lessons from Africa.

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Produced by

Christian Bordal, Andrea Brody, Karen Radziner

Tapes & Transcripts

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