By PETER B. LORD, The Providence Journal

For the first time this year, environmentalists in Canada were happy to see a federal election fought over environmental issues, particularly a carbon tax to combat global warming. But then the financial crisis hit. And this week, the Liberal party and its environmental program were defeated.

WARWICK, R.I. -- Judy Gendron and her four friends had just sat down to eat on the small deck on the side of her condominium here recently when they heard a loud cracking noise. Seconds later, they were falling to the ground, with a second deck overhead crashing down and pinning them in the rubble.

Consider two extremes of tourism: In Tombstone, Ariz., 1,100 residents host some 600,000 visitors a year who stay an average of two hours and spend just $8 each.

In the Republic of Ireland, the government maintains the rural landscape as well as a strong sense of community and history while its economy soars and it attracts millions of tourists each year.