Encyclopedia of Global Resources part 110 ppt

water monitoring, corrective action, closure, post - closure monitoring, and financial assurance. While Subtitle D sets federal criteria for landfills and other solid waste disposal facilities, it empowers states to develop their own plans for managing municipal and nonhazardous industrial solidwastes. Some states have set requirements thatare more stringentthan thefed- eral standards. Subtitle C of RCRA pertains to hazardous waste— that is,waste materialsthat are ignitable, reactive, cor- rosive, or toxic. Under Subtitle C, hazardous waste is controlled from the time it iscreated untilits final dis- posal. Waste generators, transporters, and treatment, storage, and disposal facilities (TSDFs)—along with any facility thatmakes,burns, or sellswaste-derived fu- els—are required to adhere to RCRA record-keeping and permitting requirements. In particular, TSDFs must perform waste analysis, conduct environmental monitoring, observe land-disposal restrictions, per- form inspections, train personnel, develop contin- gency plans and emergency procedures, and maintain written records as part of their compliance with RCRA. In 1984, SubtitleCwasamended by HSWAtoestablish treatment standards to prevent land disposal of un- treated wastes. It increased EPA enforcement author- ity and closedsubstandardlandfillsand incinerators. Subtitle I, introduced to RCRA as part of HSWA, pertains to underground storage tanks (including as- sociated piping) that contain petroleum products and hazardous substances. Owners and operators of underground storage tanks must comply with require- ments for tank design, installation, corrosion protec- tion, spill and overfill protection, release detection measures, postrelease corrective action, tank removal or environmentally responsible in situ abandonment, record keeping, andreporting.A 1986amendmentto Subtitle I created the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund, which provides states with monies from a tax on motor fuel for cleanup of petroleum releases from underground storage tanks. Subtitle J, established in 1988 with the enactment of the MWTA, was a limited-duration demonstration project for tracking medical waste and regulating medical-waste handlers. After Subtitle J’s expiration in 1991, medical-waste regulation was handled by in- dividual states, except in cases in which certain na- tional standards have been violated. The 1992 FFCAamendmentstrengthens RCRA en - forcement authority at federal facilities. States are given theright to sue the federal government and col - lect fines and penalties for noncompliance with envi - ronmental regulations. The EPA is granted the same enforcement power over the federalgovernment that it has overotherentities. Federal TSDFsaremade sub- ject toEPAinspection and EPAgroundwater monitor- ing. FFCA also lays the groundwork for regulations that define at what point munitions are to be consid- ered and treated as a hazardous waste. LDPFA amends the HSWA to provide flexibility in land disposal of certain solid wastes. These include low-risk wastes already regulated under the Clean Water Act or Safe Drinking Water Act and wastes that have been treated so that their hazardous compo- nents havebeen removed, destroyed, orimmobilized. LDPFA also exempts small landfills in arid or remote locations from certain groundwater monitoring re- quirements, provided there has been no prior evi- dence of groundwater contamination from a facility. Inactive or abandoned hazardous waste sites are outside the scope of RCRA, as are spills requiring emergency action. These are addressed by the Com- prehensive Environmental Response,Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), also known as Superfund. Impact on Resource Use Because of RCRA’s broad scope, the law impacts sev- eral sectors, among them manufacturing, transporta- tion, waste treatment, utilities, mining, and mineral processing operations. While complying with RCRA Subtitles C and I, in particular, leads to increased operational costs for industry, it also results in signifi- cant waste reduction, improved environmental qual- ity, and more careful management of resources. The EPA reports that an estimated 3 billion kilograms of hazardous waste were reduced, treated, or properly disposed of under RCRA in fiscal year 2008. The EPA periodically selects a national RCRA en- forcement and compliance assurance priority, based on a review of environmental risk andnoncompliance patterns. The priority sectors for fiscal years 2005 through 2008 were mineral processing and mining. These exceed all other industrial sectors in generat- ing wastes that are corrosive or laden with toxic met- als. The EPA noted a pattern of groundwater, surface water, and soil contamination at mineral processing and mining operations. Many large-scale operations had a serious impact on local water supplies and wild - life. The proximity of some facilities to populated areas posed a human health risk. Mineral processing 1018 • Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Global Resources facilities producing phosphoric acid and phosphate compounds were ofparticular concern because ofthe environmental threat posed by these chemicals. By making the mineral processing and mining sectors a nationwide priority, theEPAsought toprotect human health and the environment by ensuring maximum RCRA compliance. Karen N. Kähler Further Reading Applegate, John S.,andJan Laitos.EnvironmentalLaw: RCRA, CERCLA, and the Management of Hazardous Waste. New York: Foundation Press, 2006. Karnofsky, Brian.Hazardous Waste Management Compli- ance Handbook. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1997. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. FY 2008 OECA Accomplishments Report. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2008. _______. Hazardous Waste Generator Regulations: A User- Friendly Reference Document. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2006. _______. RCRA OrientationManual.Washington, D.C.: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2008. Wagner, Travis. The Complete Guide to the Hazardous Waste Regulations: RCRA, TSCA, HMTA, OSHA, and Superfund. 3d ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1999. Web Sites U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery http://www.epa.gov/osw/basicinfo.htm U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Enforcement http://www.epa.gov/compliance/civil/rcra/ index.html See also: Clean Air Act; Clean Water Act; Environ- mental degradation, resource exploitation and; Envi- ronmental law in the United States; Environmental Protection Agency; Hazardous waste disposal; Land- fills; Mining wastes and mine reclamation; Nuclear waste and its disposal; Oil spills; Solid waste manage- ment; Superfund legislation and cleanup activities; Thermal pollution and thermal pollution control; Waste management and sewage disposal; Water pollu - tion and water pollution control. Resource curse Category: Social, economic, and political issues The “resource curse” refers to an ongoing debate about the role a country’s endowment of resources, such as minerals and oil, plays in its rate of economic develop- ment. The possible existence of a resource curse and how it canbe avoidedare important issuesin thedevel- opment of resources globally. Definition The resource curse is the term used to describe the fact that countries with large endowments in re- sources have oftentendedto develop more slowly eco- nomically than countries with small endowments in resources. This behavior is the opposite of the ex- pected, traditional view that abundant resources are an important aid in a country’s economic develop- ment. Overview That an abundance of resources is an important ad- vantage for the economic development of a country has been widely believed. However, there is an oppos- ing view based on the comparison of the rate of eco- nomic advancement for developing countries. The comparison shows that countries with large endow- ments of resources have tended to develop at slower economic rates than countries without such endow- ments in resources. This type of situation has become known as the “resource curse.” The resource curse is considered a particularly likely problem for a country that has a large endowment of a nonrenewable re- source, like minerals or oil, that leads to an export- oriented industry that is large relative tothe country’s domestic economy. Several arguments are made to explain why the re- source curse might happen. In general, exporting natural resource products isless desirablethan manu- factured products. Natural resources tend to have de- clining prices relative to manufactured goods over time, and natural resource markets are very volatile, with large swings up and down in prices. A second argument is that the presence of a large, export- oriented resource industry, often operated by foreign companies, canseverelydamage acountry’s economy by taking workers (higher wages) from important do - mestic sectors and raising domestic prices (inflation). Global Resources Resource curse • 1019 This is referred to as the “Dutch disease” after the im - pact of a large natural gas find on the economy of the Netherlands in the 1960’s. A third argument points out that the profit that does go to the country for its resource development is often wasted through cor- ruption or current consumption and is not invested in the country toreplacethe value oftheresources be- ing used up. It can also lead to civil unrest as different groupsin the country fight forashareof the wealth. Ultimately, the debate is not about the value of re- sources in a country’s economic development but about how well a country uses the resource wealth it has been given. Countries with large resource wealth often are not able to use it wisely for economic devel- opment purposes and may misuse it to the point that overall economic development is hindered. It does not have to be that way, as shown by a case like Bo- tswana, which has used its diamond industry as an im- portant factor in its successful economic develop- ment, but past experience shows that care must be taken when a country is found to be endowed with a large resource, to avoid the potential problems that can lead to the resource curse. Gary A. Campbell See also: Developing countries; Environmental deg- radation, resource exploitation and; Mineral re- source ownership; Natural capital; Resource account- ing; Resources as a medium of economic exchange; Resources as a source of international conflict; Re- sources for the Future. Resources as a medium of economic exchange Category: Social, economic, and political issues The value of worldwide environmental products and services is estimated to be in the tens of trillions of dol- lars annually. The true value of natural resources, such as breathable air and potable water, is difficult to calculate. Determining thecostof substitutes fornonre- newable resources, if they exist, also presents problems. Further complicatingthe equation,resource ownership is commonly not clearly defined. Background Many developing nations have natural capital but few financial resources. The lifestyles of citizens of wealthy nations are resource intensive. Japan has almost no natural resources of its own. Even the resource-rich United States imports oil and platinum. There is in- ternational trade of manufactured goods, but natural capital underpinsthat as well.Broad categorization of natural resource capital includes water, food, energy, land, minerals, timber, fisheries, atmosphere, and biodiversity. Total water use continues to grow, tripling globally from 1950 to 2010, leaving one in three people af- fected by water scarcity. Although water is generally not treated as an economic commodity, rivers are an economic natural resource. Countries, states, and municipalities downstream are affected by draw and 1020 • Resources as a medium of economic exchange Global Resources “Dutch disease”is a term usedto refer to a type of resource curse that afflicted the Netherlands after a large natural gas find in the 1960’s. Above, a worker monitorsanoffshore natural gas facilityin the Netherlands. (Jochen Luebke/dpa /Landov) pollution from upstream neighbors. In terms of food, the United States is the largest agricultural exporter. North Africa and the Middle East import the largest amounts of food. Global climate change is expected to exaggerate this trade imbalance. Global mineral resource use will continue to in- crease because of population growth and improving lifestyles. Where large amounts of money are ex- changed (such as in the diamond trade), greed, cor- ruption, and violence prevail. While global shortages of nonfuel minerals are not predicted for the near fu- ture, environmental and social consequences of min- eral exploitation are of immediate concern. Forests are primarily threatened by conversion of the landto subsistencefarming andlarge-scale ranch- ing. In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, nongovern- mental agency (NGO)initiated debt-for-nature swaps were temporarily successful in Latin American coun- tries. These programs wrote off a portion of foreign debt in exchange for protection of rain forests and biodiversity. Short duration of the exchange agree- ments, corruption, cronyism inthe governments, and monitoring and enforcement difficulties limited the success of these programs. Pollution reduction is at the center of interna- tional atmospheric agreements.Without evendiscuss- ing the costs and responsibility for pollution controls, nations disagree over parity in emission reductions. For example, one issue concerns how a developing nation’s gross national product (GNP) suffers if that nation is not allowed to develop along the path of al- ready developed nations. Related issues entail deter- mining the responsible parties for reducing carbon emissions. Whether a resource is renewable or nonre- newable, plentiful or scarce, widespread or localized, or privately owned or publically held, the life cycle of a particular resource isshaped by political, economic, and environmental factors. Politics Resources are unevenly distributed around the globe. Many resources are located and harvested in poor, densely populated nations, for use by industrialized countries. The disconnect of distance divorces grow- ing resource scarcity and pollution from the appetite for resource consumption, leaving little incentive to develop technologies to conserve or economize use. Questions remain concerning what will happen as de - veloping nations industrialize and increase their re - source use. The economic expansion of highly popu - lated countries, suchas China,addsto theurgency for change in resource management in and between na- tions. Poor countries tend to have communal property rights to resources, based on custom and traditions, rather thanlegal deed. Forexample, in Africa’s Sahel, state rules destroyed communal management of the forests, bankrupting the fragile ecosystem and spur- ring the rapidly advancing desertification of the land- scape. From the individual to the national scale, little incentive exists to conserve publically held resources. In the scramble for profit, what one person does not use, anotherwill. Maximizing one’s resource usemax- imizes individual profit. Rather than fostering wide distribution of prosper- ity and social progress, globalization tends to sharpen the existing contrast between rich and poor. The number of people living in poverty continues to ex- pand. Resource cash flow in developing nations all too often ends up in the ruler’s personal coffer. Governments have continually oversubsidized the overextraction of resources. On one hand, taxes fund environmentally harmful subsidies, while on the other hand, citizens pay increased prices for substi- tute services adegraded ecosystem can no longer pro- vide. Subsidies damaging to the environment will eventually damage the economy also. Global gover- nance of development (resource use) is inflicted on the majority by those in the privileged minority, spur- ring a growing global justice movement that advo- cates greater social regulation of market capitaliza- tion. Economics Externalities, side effects borne by those outside a transaction, are unidirectional rather than recipro- cal, providing little incentive for changing business as usual. Subsidies for virgin material extraction are counterproductive. Epitomizing outrageous reverse logic, the clean-up costs for the Exxon Valdez oil spill were added to the U.S. GNP. Dumping isthe term usedto describethe sellingof products in other countries below actual production costs. Holdingenvironmental costsoutside economic assessment virtually guarantees the perpetuation of dumping across the board, which is good neither for the environment nor for business. Thepractice ofdis- counting, valuing today’s “needs” over future events, also favors exploitation. Subsistence economies revolve around meeting Global Resources Resources as a medium of economic exchange • 1021 the basic needs of survival. Capitalist market econo - mies, of course, involve monetary transactions be- tween buyers and sellers, with prices shaped by supply and demand. A centrally planned economy with gov- ernment intervention may be part of the means to ac- tually valuate natural resource capital. Traditional capitalism relies onmarketsolutions to provide equal- ity of opportunity. A new global capitalism would re- quire redistributive measures to encourage equality of outcomes. Conversely, environmental economies internalize environmental costs, throughinitiatives suchas pollu- tion taxes anddepletionquotas.Industrial ecosystems use renewable energy, share and minimize the use of natural resources, and use each other’s waste and by- products. Humansociety andthe environment are in- terdependent. Promotion of environmental sustain- ability mayhinge upon redistribution ofglobal wealth and democratization of international politics. Technology Economic growth islimited. Societymust facethe fact that natural capital, rather than man-made capital, is the limiting resource. Usable resources are those that are accessible at affordable prices. Prices may not re- flect impending collapse of a resource base. Dwindling natural resources provide incentive for technological advances. Bioengineered crops allevi- ate a multitude of natural resource woes. While not immune to controversy, bioengineered crops can re- duce soil erosion, water usage, pesticide use, and fer- tilizer runoff and can increase yields. In terms of natural resources, technology has posi- tive andnegative attributes. It may allow us to prolong dependence on a particular resource, by becoming increasingly input driven, thereby producing less re- turn and more waste. Diminished accessibility dou- bles the cost of oil production every fifteen years. Sec- ondary recovery methods, such as energy-intensive enhanced oil recovery consume one barrel of oil to extract three additional barrels. Copper of declining grade triggers deeper strip mines, increasing the strip- ping ratio of waste rock. Despite technological changes, vast quantities of natural resources are still used and wasted. Policies that eliminate subsidiesfor outdated technologies;re- move barriers to trade; provide incentives for recy- cling, reuse, and conservation; and adjust prices to make solutions economically competitive and feasi - ble are necessary. The Future International discourse, decision making, and trade would surely benefit from a scientific approach to cost/benefit analysis. Economic downturn, coupled with resource scarcity, will increasingly feed national- ist tendencies andpit country againstcountry. Ideally, practices of sustainability and environmental justice should guide resource brokerage. Sarah A. Vordtriede Further Reading Bernstein, StevenF., and LouisW.Pauly.GlobalLiberal- ism and Political Order: Toward a New Grand Compro- mise? Albany: State University of New York Press, 2007. Brennan, Scott R., and Jay Withgott. Environment: The Science Behind the Stories. San Francisco: Pearson, Benjamin Cummings, 2005. Costanza, Robert, and LisaWainger, ed. Ecological Eco- nomics: The Science and Management of Sustainability. Reprint. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004. Dasgupta, Partha. Human Well-Being and the Natural En- vironment. New York:OxfordUniversity Press, 2001. Goklany, Indur M. The Improving State of the World. Why We’re Living Longer, Healthier, More Comfortable Lives on a Cleaner Planet. Washington, D.C.: CATO Insti- tute, 2007. Keohane, Robert O., and Marc A. Levy. Institutions for Environmental Aid: Pitfalls and Promises. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1996. Murphy,Dale D. The Structure ofRegulatory Competition: Corporations and Public Policies in a Global Economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Singer, Peter. One World: The Ethics of Globalization. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2002. Spoor, Max, ed. Globalisation, Poverty and Conflict: A Critical Development Reader. Boston: Kluwer Aca- demic, 2004. Stead, W. Edward, and Jean Garner Stead. Management for a Small Planet: Strategic Decision Making and the En- vironment. 2d ed.ThousandOaks,Calif.: Sage, 1996. See also: Agricultural products; Biodiversity; Bio- technology; Capitalism and resource exploitation; Climate and resources; Conservation; Developing countries; Energy economics; Energy politics; Natu- ral capital; Renewable and nonrenewable resources; Resources as a source of international conflict; Re - sources for the Future; Strategic resources. 1022 • Resources as a medium of economic exchange Global Resources Resources as a source of international conflict Category: Social, economic, and political issues Natural resources are a criticalcomponentof the global economy. Most such resources are geographically lim- ited, often to regions of social and political instability, making their possession, exploitation, sale, and con- sumption topics of national and international con- cern. Manycurrent intrastateand cross-borderviolent conflicts happen because of disagreements over re- sources; such disputes are likely to grow with increased resource demand and resource scarcity. Background Access to resources for industrial applications was a key concern of most major nations both during and shortly after World War II in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. The advent of the Cold War period, however, saw a shift away from concerns over resource acquisi- tion to those dealing with the political, ideological, and military developments occurring throughout Eu- rope and Asia. Military forces in particular were redis- tributed along key international borders in response to growing tensions. As the Cold War ended and the global economy began to expand, resources became of paramountsecurity concern oncemore. Moreover, this concern was no longer limited to developed na- tions. Rather, it grew to encompass the underdevel- oped and developing nations within whose borders many critical resources lie. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that since the 1950’s roughly 40 percent or more of all intrastate conflicts can be linked to the possession of natural resources. Accord- ing tothe World Bank,fifty ofthe armed conflicts aris- ing between 2001 and 2009 could belinked to natural resources. These conflicts occurred throughout the developing world, especially in Africa. Natural re- sources can trigger, intensify, or sustain violent con- flicts depending on the resource involved and the context inwhich it isfound. Intrastateconflicts in par- ticular are further prone to ethnic and religious esca- lation, both of which can easily push resource con- flicts across disputed borders. Because the possession and sale of natural resources fuels the national econ - omy of many countries, global economic depression only serves to put additional pressure on potential resource-conflict hot spots. Militarization within these hot spots further erodes options for peaceful resolu- tions. Resources, Economics, and Population Growth Natural resources essentially represent naturally oc- curring, tangible substances that have some eco- nomic value even in their unprocessed form. How much worth a resource holds depends on what it is, how much ofitthereis, its relative extractability,its de- mand, and how much people or nations are willing to pay for it. Renewable resources can, over time, regen- erate themselves unless they are harvested, extracted, or consumedat arate thatexceeds therate of replace- ment. While renewable resources are generally not the subject of conflict, some, like old-growth timber and fresh water, are becoming significant sources of conflict due specifically to the rapid progression to- ward unsustainable consumption. Nonrenewable re- sources are muchmore likely tobe sources ofconflict. These resources exist in a fixed amount in nature or form over such a long period of time that they are es- sentially unreplaceable. Oil, coal, and natural gas are effectively nonrenewable because of the limits of geo- logic formation and time. Nonrenewable resources also tend to be highly limited geographically. Gen- erally, as materials become scarce in an environment where demanddoes notchange, the real or perceived value of the material goes up. Scarce resources are worth more for the simple factthat littleexists. Add to this the fact that many nonrenewable resources are heavily tied to modern industry or to social and cul- tural usage, and their value only increases as scarcity looms. Because many resources are scarce, hard toextract, or highly valuable, possession of resources is critical as a driving force for the economies of many nations, especially those of developing and underdeveloped countries that lack diversification in their economic structures. Economic dependence on resources can lead to conflict as intrastate or interstate arguments arise over resource ownership or control over the routes by which the resources reach the marketplace. Resource exporters must maintain control over the resource to acquire the benefitsof sale while resource importers must be able to assure continued importa- tion of materials.Both groups haveavested interested in cooperation and yet both groups are subject to global pressures and concerns. Ultimately, the eco - nomic and social fragility of many impoverished Global Resources Resources as a source of international conflict • 1023 countries creates unease in global markets, produc - ing tensions among those nations dependent on ex- ternal resources. Use of force becomes more likely as a way of protecting resource flow, both regionally and globally. While natural resources alone are not the cause of all conflicts, they become influential in situa- tions where ethnic conflict, poor economic condi- tions, and border disputes have already raised ten- sions to volatile levels, and where the concerns of larger nations force them to be more protective of re- sources necessary to ensure domestic security. Population growth has a significant impact on re- source development, consumption, and scarcity. Growth places huge demands on general resources such as food, water, energy, timber, fibers, and miner- als. In some cases, demands are for bare subsistence, but general increases in standards of living over the last severaldecades havealso resulted inincreased de- mand for goods that go beyond subsistence. Energy consumption in particular hasincreased dramatically, both in individual usage and as a driver of industrial- ization and manufacturing. The population dynamic of resource consumption is complex. Typically, birth- rates decrease with increased urbanization and in- creases in standards of living, but increased wealth leads to even greater consumption. High birthrates often push individuals to cities to find work (thus in- creasing urbanization) but also place burdens on al- ready limited arable land. Technology can reduce consumption of some resources, but manufacturing of alternatives places its own demand on resources. While it is difficult to predict the outcome of these growth parameters, it is clear that global population continues to rise,which willonlyincrease the demand for resources. As the human population approaches Earth’s carrying capacity, conflicts over dwindling re- sources will only increase. Energy Resources The global economy essentially runs on nonrenew- able supplies of fossil fuels: oil, natural gas, and coal. Renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar power represent only atiny fractionof energy produc- tion and consumption, and then only in developed nations. Thus, the increased scarcity of limited fossil- fuel supplies isexpected toleadto increasing tensions over resource acquisition. Global consumption of en- ergy resources isrisingroughly2 percent per year,and with increased globalization, the demand is not likely to peak anytime soon. Both geology and geography work against fossil- fuel acquisition. As natural products, fossil fuels were produced under particular geological conditions in the distant past. Furthermore, fossil fuels are buried resources and must be extracted physically from the geologic formations in which they are captured. Ex- traction becomes more difficult technologically as less of the resource remains in the ground and as more inaccessible fields have to be tapped as primary fields run dry.Once extracted,fuel resources typically must be transported, often over large distances and through different national territories. Security of the resource and security of transport are thus inter- twined. Except for a few fields located in uncontested regions of the globe, such as the North Slope of Alaska, every major oil field lies in a contested border region experiencing recurrent crises and violence. Since World War II, petroleum has been a con- tested resource; the Iraq invasion of Kuwait in 1990 was one of the most visible recent conflicts directly at- tributable to one group seeking dominance over a sharedborder resource. In the1970’s, the Arab-Israeli conflict, coupled with an oil embargo and price in- crease by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), demonstrated how critical pro- tected oil supplies were to the international commu- nity and the United States in particular. Formation of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the United States was a direct result of this conflict, as was the Carter Doctrine (1980), which stipulated that any hostile power restricting the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf would becountered with military force. Oilimporters are primarily concerned with safe delivery to ensure economic security, while oil exporters are concerned most with maintaining possession of the resource. Be- cause oil is a lucrative asset, it is no wonder that the concerns of importers and exporters often come into conflict. Almost 65percent ofthe world’s knownpetroleum reserves can be found in the Persian Gulf. Significant untapped reserves of oil and natural gas are also lo- cated in the Caspian Sea basin and the South China Sea. Additional global deposits of oil can be found in Indonesia, Africa (Algeria, Angola, Chad, Nigeria, and Sudan), and South America (Colombia and Ven- ezuela). It is further believed that large fields of oil may lie beneath Arctic waters. Because measuring the longevity of anyone oilfieldis difficult,hard numbers are elusive, but one U.S. State Department estimate puts the valueof the untappedreserves in theCaspian 1024 • Resources as a source of international conflict Global Resources Sea basin aloneatroughly $4 trillion(andlikely more, given that this estimate was made in 1997). The vast majority of all this oil and natural gas is extracted for sale to countries in the West, and the safety of trans- port can be as tenuous as the safety of the fields them- selves. The bulk of the oil shipped from the Persian Gulf must leave the region in ships confined to the narrow andtroubled watersof the Suez Canal and the Strait of Hormuz, whereas oil from the Caspian Sea travels through former Soviet states currently at odds with Russia. Of the civil wars and internal conflicts that have arisensincethe 1970’s, at leastfourhavehad some direct relevance to conflict over oil: Angola, Co- lombia, the Republic of the Congo, and the Sudan. For these four nations oil is a key component to grow- ing national economies, and the battle of groups to keep control of the fields is intense. Water Water is essential to life, and yet the vast majority of the Earth’s water supply is salt water (roughly 97 per - cent) and therefore unavailable for immediate hu - man consumption. Most of the fresh water that does exist is trapped in polar ice and glaciers. The World Bank estimates that each personin the world requires approximately 1,000 cubic meters of water per year, both for immediate use in drinking and bathing and as a by-product of industry, agriculture, and other uses that provide humans with their daily needs. The U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development esti- mates that the amount of water actually available per year is 12.5million cubicmeters.Current usage bythe world’s population is roughly 50 percent. Available water is the water from rain and snowfall minus the water lost to evaporation and land runoff. Rain and snow are intimately associated with climate. There- fore, global climate change and global warming have an effect on the amount and distribution of available water. Persistent water scarcity is already a problem in many areas of the world, including the Middle East and certain portions of Africa and Asia. Climate change exacerbates the problem. As temperatures rise, two things happen. First,rain increases along the coastlines of oceans and large bodies of water and de - creases inland, leadingto persistentdrought. Second, increased temperatures cause increased water evapo - Global Resources Resources as a source of international conflict • 1025 An American howitzer fires on an Iraqi position during the 1991 Gulf War, a conflict precipitated by Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait for the pur- poses of acquiring additional oil reserves. (Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images) ration and a corresponding loss of arable land. With - out waterfor drinking or irrigation, famine and social upheaval result. River systems are absolutelycriticalto the provision of fresh water. Manyof theworld’s largest river systems, which provide water for millions of people, traverse two or more countries. These rivers include the Nile, the Jordan, the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Indus, and the Amu Dar’ya River systems. The Nile alone is bor- dered by nine different countries. Upstream countries control theflow for all downstream consumers;there- fore, sharing water resources is vital. Contestation over supply, however, exists in all of these major systems. Tension and conflict are likely to increase as demand for water approaches 100 percent of capacity. Land, Minerals, and Timber Among undeveloped and underdeveloped countries the primary source of conflict centers on the control and exploitation of vital national resources as the main contributor to national income. Critical re- sources include diamonds, emeralds, miscellaneous gems, gold, copper, tin, iron, and organic resources such as timber,cotton, palm oil,cocoa,coffee, rubber, and fish. Scarcity is becoming an issue for many of these resources, particularly old-growth timber. For- ests in Brazil, Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Mexico, the Philippines, and In- donesia are among those experiencing not only dev- astation to old-growth timber but also increased con- flict between governments wishing to gain from the sale of the timber and indigenous populations that depend on the forests to survive. Arable land has become a scarce natural resource in many areas of the developing world. Climate change, urbanization, and lack of sufficient water for irrigation are creating wastelands instead of agricul- tural fields, leading to decreased food sustainability. Nowhere is thismore visible thanin theDarfur region of the Sudan. When this scarcity is combined with so- cial inequalities and injustice, conflicting territorial claims to thesame materials, andethnic and religious tensions, violent conflict often erupts and, in many cases, escalates to cross-border warfare. Civil war in Angola represents a case study of the impact natural resources can have on conflicts. The fight between the socialist independence movement, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), and the anticolonialist movement, the Na - tional Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), began as a Cold War battle fueled by for - eign money. In 1992, Angola held the first multiparty elections in its history, as foreign influence waned. The MPLAwon, but UNITA rejected theseresults and turned to violence, using the profits earned from dia- monds tofundits warefforts. Forits part, theAngolan government used the proceeds of oil sales to counter UNITA, making natural resources a sustainer of con- flict onboth sides.In 2000,the UnitedNations passed a resolution demanding anend to “conflict diamonds” (“blood diamonds”), a call echoed by the World Dia- mond Council. Rejection of blood diamonds in favor of documented conflict-free diamonds from other ar- eas of Africa and the world has greatly depressed the revenue available to UNITA, illustrating how market forces can be used to either drive conflicts or end them. Conflict Resolution Several factors influence whether conflict over re- sources islikely to turn violent. These include, butare not limited to, the relative stability of the country or region in general, the history of relationships be- tween bordering nations, local military balance, and general levels of social inequality (the globalization gap between rich and poor). Resource scarcity is a re- ality inmost cases and so solutions to conflictmust ad- dress the ancillary conditionsthatmake conflict more likely. Effective governance of natural resources is the key to reducing resource conflict and enhancing the standard of living of those countries mired in con- flict. Methods must be found to inventory and allo- cate global resources on a more equitable basis, espe- cially during times of scarcity. Conservation efforts are needed to preserve the resources that remain. Investing money ineconomic growth ratherthancon- flict maintenance can change the social and eco- nomic dynamics of countries so as to reduce the potential for future conflict. Finding alternatives to scarce resources and seeking technologies that save materials and reduce consumption, so long as these alternatives and technologies are available to all, will also reduce the problem of future resource conflicts. Elizabeth A. Machunis-Masuoka Further Reading Bannon, Ian, and Paul Collier, eds. Natural Resources and Violent Conflict: Options and Actions. Washing - ton, D.C.: World Bank, 2003. Dobkowski, Michael N., and Isidor Wallimann, eds. 1026 • Resources as a source of international conflict Global Resources On the EdgeofScarcity: Environment,Resources, Popula - tion, Sustainability, and Conflict. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syra- cuse University Press, 2002. Halle, Silja,ed.From Conflictto Peacebuilding: TheRole of Natural Resources and the Environment. New York: United Nations Environment Programme, 2009. Klare, Michael T. Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict. New York: Henry Holt, 2001. Vaughan, Jacqueline. Conflicts Over Natural Resources: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC- CLIO, 2007. Web Sites United Nations Environment Programme Disasters and Conflicts http://www.unep.org/conflictsanddisasters/ The World Bank http://www.worldbank.org/ See also: Carter, Jimmy; Developing countries; En- ergy economics; Energy politics; Forests; Genetic re- sources; Oil embargo and energy crises of 1973 and 1979; Oil industry; Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries; Organization of Petroleum Ex- porting Countries; Population growth; Rain forests; Renewable andnonrenewable resources; Strategicre- sources; United Nations Environment Programme. Resources for the Future Category: Organizations, agencies, and programs Date: Established 1952 Resources for the Future utilizes social science research to support policy decision making related to resource utilization. Founded as a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization, Resources for the Future focuses on eco- nomic factorsthat influence the supply of and demand for energy, water, timber, and other resources. Background Resources for the Future (RFF) was founded in 1952 at the suggestion of William S. Paley, chairman of Co- lumbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and head of a presidential commission created to consider U.S. de - pendence on foreign resources. With initial funding from the Ford Foundation, RFF evolved into the na - tion’s first think tank focused on environmental and resource issues. In lieu of aligning with specific policy recommendations or legislation, RFF provides empir- ically based assessments of factors influencing the supply of and demand for resources. RFF studies are used by public officials, business leaders, nonprofit organizations, and the news media. In addition, RFF researchers are called on to brief members of the ex- ecutive branch and to testify before Congress. Along with research reports and book-length monographs, RFF publishes a quarterly magazine called Resources. Ongoing financial support comes through donations from private organizations, individuals, and govern- ment agencies. In fiscal year 2006, RFF’s operating revenue was $10.6 million, with nearly three-quarters earmarked for research. RFF maintains a permanent staff of economists, geographers,attorneys, policy an- alysts, and other researchers. Impact on Resource Use Early work by RFF scholars focused on resource scar- city and import dependence. RFFresearchers are rec- ognized aspioneers inthe fieldof environmental eco- nomics through studies of resource markets and scarcity, nonmarket valuation of resources, risk man- agement, and sustainable development. Published in 1960, the RFF book Energy in the American Economy be- came an important source of information for federal agencies. RFF’s database was included in the U.S. Census Bureau’sHistorical Statistics oftheUnitedStates. RFF researchers have also made several important contributions to resource management.Forexample, RFF economists played a key role in identifying pollu- tion asa production costfor which a responsible party does not pay.Allen Kneese’s work onwaterqualitylaid the conceptual foundation for using market mecha- nisms to mitigate air pollution. As a result of Kneese’s work, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency be- gan allowing companies to buy and sell “pollution credits” in the early 1990’s. The RFF book Scarcity and Growth (1963) suggestedthatimpacts on environmen- tal quality are a more serious threat than shortages in the availability of natural resources. Another seminal work, Resources in America’s Future (1963), provided an overview of the economic role of natural resources in the U.S. economy together with projections about their future availability. In 1967, John Krutilla’s paper “Conservation Reconsidered” became the basis for identifying and measuring preservation benefits in decision making involving resources. Global Resources Resources for the Future • 1027 . Strategic resources. 1022 • Resources as a medium of economic exchange Global Resources Resources as a source of international conflict Category: Social, economic, and political issues Natural resources. capital; Resource account- ing; Resources as a medium of economic exchange; Resources as a source of international conflict; Re- sources for the Future. Resources as a medium of economic exchange Category:. the eco - nomic and social fragility of many impoverished Global Resources Resources as a source of international conflict • 1023 countries creates unease in global markets, produc - ing tensions