E. Environment and Sustainability

“The Growth Consensus Unravels,” by Jonathan Rowe, Dollars & Sense, Issue 224, July-August 1999, 13 p.

http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/1999/0799rowe.html

As the market hurdles towards multiple implosions, social and environmental as well as financial, it is just possible that the economics profession is going to have to do what it constantly lectures the rest of us to do: adjust to new realities and show a willingness to change. Great article on economic growth, materialism and quality of life (some historical context)

“Car Trouble: The Automobile as an Environmental and Health Disaster,” by Alejandro Reuss, Dollars & Sense, March/April 2003, 12 p.

http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2003/0303reuss.html No longer available here.

Automobiles pollute the oceans and the air, overheat cities and the earth, devour land and time, produce waste and noise, and cause injury and illness.

“Ocean Protection Case Studies,” National Resource Defense Council (NRDC), June 4, 2003, 9 p.

http://www.nrdc.org/water/oceans/success.asp

Marine ecosystems and fish populations are in trouble, but proven solutions exist to restore the health of the oceans.

“Albuquerque’s Environmental Story: Environmental Justice,” by Dolores S. Herrera with material from the SouthWest Organizing Project, 2006, 7 p.

http://www.cabq.gov/aes/s5enjus.html No longer available here.

A simple introduction to the relation between pollution and environmental justice using two Superfund sites in New Mexico as an example.

Book review by Judy Brady of Cancer-Gate: How to Win the Losing Cancer War by Samuel S. Epstein, MD, Yes! Magazine, Fall 2005, 4 p.

http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/respecting-elders-becoming-elders/book-review-cancer-gate-how-to-win-the-losing-cancer-war-by-samuel-s.-epstein

Epstein’s follow-on book to The Politics of Cancer, examines why the general public is so unaware of what is causing our cancer epidemic.

“Landfills, Bioreactors and Incinerators Are Garbage Destinations: What Doesn’t Recycle is an Environmental Danger,” by V. Hughes, Associated Content, September 17, 2007, 3 p.

http://voices.yahoo.com/landfills-bioreactors-incinerators-garbage-541696.html

A brief overview of U.S. garbage disposal systems.

“Toxic Shock: How Western Rubbish Is Destroying Africa,” by Meera Selva, The Independent (UK), September 21, 2006, 4 p.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/toxic-shock-how-western-rubbish-is-destroying-africa-416828.html

or

http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/212-environment/45268-toxic-shock-how-western-rubbish-is-destroying-africa.html

Western corporations are exploiting legal loopholes to dump their waste in Africa. In Ivory Coast, the price has been death and disease for thousands.

“Anti-Burning Man: Von Hernandez sparked a mass movement to keep trash incinerators out of the Philippines,” by Michelle Nijhuis, Grist Magazine, April 15, 2003, 6 p.

http://grist.org/article/antiburning/

Large-scale waste incineration is being moved to developing countries, but the Philippines became the first country in the world to adopt a nationwide ban on incineration thanks to people like Von Hernandez, the coordinator of Greenpeace International’s Toxics Campaign in Asia.

“World’s Worst Polluted Places,” Blacksmith Institute, 2007, 21 p.

http://www.worstpolluted.org/ Read a few of the short descriptions and skim the rest. (10 p.)

A description of 10 of the worst pollution sites in the world, the causes (mostly heavy metal mining and manufacturing), the health impacts, and the state of remediation.

“Lions And Tigers And Bears (Going Extinct) — Oh My! Species Extinction: Causes, Statistics, and Trends,” Grinning Planet, Issue 82S, 2004, 7 p.

http://www.grinningplanet.com/2004/07-13-2x/endangered-species-conservation-article.htm

An overview of extinction trends and loss of habitat.

“Causes of Endangerment,” EndangeredSpecies.com, by Lauren Kurpis, 4 p.

http://www.endangeredspecie.com/causes_of_endangerment.htm

What causes species to disappear?

“New measure of wealth accounts for resource depletion, environmental damage,” Modified World Bank Press Release, MongaBay.com, September 18, 2005, 4 p.

http://news.mongabay.com/2005/0918-world_bank.html

The World Bank offers new estimates of total wealth, that include produced capital, natural resources, and the value of human skills and capabilities.

“Overfishing, Tragedy of the Commons, and Resource Depletion,” blog entry by Matthew E. Kahn, (includes the Associated Press article “Overfishing May Harm Seafood Population”), November 3, 2006, 4 p.

http://greeneconomics.blogspot.com/2006/11/overfishing-tragedy-of-commons-and.html

Rising demand for fish, the absence of Ocean private property rights, and technological advance (i.e., boats that can extract more fish per hour) all combine to potentially exhaust the fish supply. Overfishing, Tragedy of the Commons and Resource Depletion

“U.S. Endangered Species Act Works, Study Finds,” National Geographic News, April 18, 2005, 3 p.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/04/0418_050418_endangered.html

The longer an animal or plant species is protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, the more likely it is to recover. Hopeful perspective.

“A Watershed Runs Through You,” by Freeman House, Yes! Magazine, Winter 2004, 7 p.

http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/whose-water/a-watershed-runs-through-you

The struggle to bring back endangered salmon draws one community into a new commitment to the well-being of its watershed.

“Pressure: what birds tell us about problems,” Bird Life International, 2006, 28 p.

http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/userfiles/docs/SOWB2004_en.pdf Read pages 30–53.

Alternatively, read some of these pages: http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sowb/pressure

A comprehensive look at the forces behind destruction of habitat and extinction of species, using birds as an example.

“Global Climate Change and Energy: Temperature Change History,” Schlumberger Excellence in Educational Development (SEED), 4 p.

http://www.planetseed.com/relatedarticle/temperature-change-history

Brief overview of temperature variations in the last 450,000 years.

“The Discovery of Global Warming,” by Spencer Weart, June 2006, 9 p.

http://www.aip.org/history/climate/summary.htm Read,“The story in a nutshell” section. (6 p.)

A short history of the discovery of global warming.

“Warning on Warming,” a review by Bill McKibben of Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis: Summary for Policymakers by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (IPCC), The New York Review of Books, Volume 54, Number 4, March 15, 2007, 10 p.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2007/mar/15/warning-on-warming/

or

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/167460/mckibben_the_real_news_about_global_warming

or

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/02/21/the_real_news_about_global_warming.php

A short history of the scientific research on global warming, the current scientific consensus, and the importance of citizen mobilization.

“Climate of Denial,” by Bill McKibben, Mother Jones, May/June 2005, 6 p.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2005/05/climate-denial

How special interests and pseudoscience distorted the truth about global warming.

“Snowed,” by Ross Gelbspan, Mother Jones, May/June 2005, 6 p.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2005/05/snowed

Why the U.S. news media has remained silent despite the overwhelming evidence for global climate change.

“Ten Things You Can Do to Stop Global Warming,” by the Sierra Club, 3 p.

http://www.sierraclub.org/energy/tenthings/

Personal and political ways to stop global warming.

“12 Key Benchmarks for Achieving a Sound Energy Plan,” by the Sierra Club, undated, 12 p.

http://www.sierraclub.org/energy/bushplan/12pointsofenergy.PDF Skim table. (6 p.) No longer available here.

Lists and explains twelve policies that would create a sound energy policy and compares them with what the Bush Administration is doing.

“Sweden Vows to Go Oil-free in 15 years,” by Rik Langendoen, Yes! Magazine, Summer 2006, 1 p.

http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/5000-years-of-empire/signs-of-life

Sweden already gets 26% of its energy from renewable sources and plans to eliminate dependency on fossil fuels by 2020.

“States Pioneer Climate Action,” by Daina Saib, Yes! Magazine, Summer 2006, 1 p.

http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/5000-years-of-empire/signs-of-life Scroll down.

New England states, Maryland, and California are actively working to stop global warming.

“Why Population Matters,” The Population Institute, 3 p.

http://www.populationinstitute.org/resources/whypopulationmatters/ And

or

http://www.populationinstitute.org/resources/factsheets/

Rapid population growth causes or exacerbates poverty, hunger, environmental degradation, economic stagnation, resource depletion, disease, and illiteracy — a surefire formula for global insecurity.

“Beyond The Limits To Growth,” by Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, and Jørgen Randers, In Context, Summer 1992, 11 p.

http://www.context.org/iclib/ic32/meadows/

A new update to The Limits to Growth reveals that we our world is closer to ‘overshoot and collapse’ — yet sustainability is still an achievable goal.

“Enough Is Enough,” by Bill Butler and Donna Butler, Vision, Summer 2004, 7 p.

http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/page.aspx?id=404

A review of three books critiquing materialism.

“Peak oil preview: North Korea & Cuba,” by Dale Jiajun Wen, Yes! Magazine, Summer 2006,  5 p.

http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/5000-years-of-empire/peak-oil-preview-north-korea-cuba

Cuba survived much more comfortably than North Korea after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the consequent diminished oil supply. The government reaction of both countries is examined as a precursor to decreasing oil supply throughout the world.

“A New Materials Economy,” an excerpt from,” Chapter 12. Building a New Economy” in Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble by Lester R. Brown, 2006, 8 p.

http://www.earth-policy.org/book_bytes/2006/pb2ch12_ss5

Moving from a throwaway economy to one based on cradle-to-cradle materials use.

Executive summary of The Carbohydrate Economy: Making Chemicals and Industrial Materials from Plant Matter, by David Morris and Irshad Ahmed, 1993, 13 p.

http://www.carbohydrateeconomy.org/library/admin/uploadedfiles/Carbohydrate_Economy_Making_Chemicals_and_Indu.htm No longer available here.

One of the most promising strategies to marry economic development and environmental protection is to dramatically substitute biochemicals for petrochemicals.

“Seven Steps to Doing Good Business: Devising a system of commerce and production in which each and every act is sustainable and restorative,” by Paul Hawken and William McDonough, Inc. Magazine, November 1993, 27 p.

http://www.inc.com/magazine/19931101/3770.html

How to devise a system of commerce and production in which each and every act is sustainable and restorative.

“Breakthrough Concept ‘Responsibility’ — Imagine That! — Becomes Law in Maine,” by Frances Moore Lappé and Kate Koester, Yes! Online, April 2006, 5 p.

http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/columns/1440

Maine is the first state to enact “producer responsibility” for electronics.

“A Sewer Becomes a Water Park,” by Karen Charman, Yes! Magazine, Winter 2004, 3 p.

http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/whose-water/karen-charman-a-sewer-becomes-a-water-park

A floating ecological living machine — a gorgeous botanical garden — is restoring open sewage canals in Fuzhou, China.

8. Environmental Organizations