The Stream, May 24: Water Business

IPS interviews Chilean environmentalist Sara Larraín about Patagonia’s controversial HidroAysén hydropower project, Chile’s environmental institutionality and the role of citizen participation. Who wins when pristine rivers clash with hydropower prospects? Read Circle of Blue’s coverage of Patagonia.

Business
Chinadialogue looks at the China Green Companies Top 100 for 2011. Which are China’s most environmentally friendly businesses, and why have some prominent names fallen off the list?

Global Food Portrait
Foreign Policy looks at China’s strategic pork reserve, the global chocolate market, the Middle East’s hummus wars, the growing insect-farming, and a new cabbage rush, or in other words, how food shapes the world.

Fracking
A new fracking song is picking up speed on YouTube. Read Circle of Blue’s interview with film director Josh Fox, whose documentary “Gasland” explores the shale gas boom in the United States.

Questions remain over fracking’s greenhouse gas footprint, with a Cornell University study saying that the footprint for shale gas is greater than that for coal when viewed over 20 years or so, and a recent National Energy Technology Laboratory assessment suggesting the opposite.

The Stream is a daily digest spotting global water trends. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.