Customer Reviews:
Best Yet.......2007-09-20
Plan B. 2.0 is the most comprehensive book I've found yet on the converging crises that we are facing in the world today. In Part I of the book, Lester R. Brown lays out each crisis, explaining the causes, and then goes on in Parts II and III, lays out a rational, well-thought-out,practical solution to the problems at hand. I gave my husband a copy of it to use for part of the Critical Issues for Law Enforcement class he's teaching at our local university. As far as I'm concerned, every American ought to have a copy and read it often and thoroughly. We need to be aware of what we're doing to ourselves and others. The frosting on this cake is that he gives us the tools we need to remedy the situation...if we act now.
Essential reading for every human on this planet.......2007-09-19
If you care about this planet and our journey upon it, this book is essential reading for the millennium ahead. I just wanted to add my five stars. Please read the other reviews for the overview of "Plan B: 2.0"
Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble.......2007-02-06
We do have prophets for our time. Lester Brown is one of the most important among them. In his well founded search for truth and solutions for our demographic, ecological and economic problems of global dimensions, he powerfully opposes the four faces of destructive stupidity of our times: ignorance, refusal to discuss matters, denial, and faithful dysfunctionality. I made this book the present day Bible that must be read and discussed in my course on Bioethics: Perspectives on Human Life, at Le Moyne College, Syracuse NY.
Dr. Andrew Szebenyi S.J.
Best Single Book for Both General Public and Broadly Read Specialists.......2007-01-26
It's a real shame that the publisher did not take the trouble to load the table of contents into the product information section provided by Amazon, because that alone should persuade anyone that gets to this page that the book is a MUST BUY MUST READ MUST SHARE.
Each of the following section titles has six sub-titles that I will not repeat here:
1. Entering a New World
2. Beyond the Oil Peak
3. Emerging Water Shortages
4. Rising Temperatures & Rising Seas
5. Natural Systems Under Stress
6. Early Signs of Decline
7. Eradicating Poverty, Stabilizing Populations
8. Restoring the Earth
9. Feeding Seven Billion Well
10. Stabilizing Climate
11. Designing Sustainable Cities
12. Building a New Economy
13. Plan B: Building a New Future.
Although an updated version of the first edition published in 2003, this version can be said to be both completely new, and finally ready for public consumption now that Al Gore has put Global Warming on the public mind.
I still prefer J. F. Rischard's HIGH NOON: 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them for the general reader, and I still think E. O. Wilson's "The Future of Life" is one of the top three in this area, but this book by Lester Brown has the merit of consolidating and structuring detail in a manner I have not seen elsewhere.
I recommend the book be ready in conjunction with books by Herman Daly and Paul Hawken, in part because everyone is now starting to realize that green sustainability is in fact the non-negotiable first step for any business to survive into the next decade--natural capitalism.
Most intriguing to me, and the heart of the book on page 257, is the consolidated Plan B budget totallying $161 billion a year needed to meet all of the goals the author postulates.
BASIC SOCIAL GOALS
12B Universal primary education
04B Adult literacy
06B School lunch in 44 poorest countries
04B Assistant to pregnant women and preschool childen in 44 poorest
07B Reproductive health and family planning
33B Universal health care
02B Closing the condom gap (Bill & Melinda Gates can have this one)
EARTH RESTORATION GOALS
06B Reforesting the earth
24B Protecting topsoil on cropland
09B Restoring rangelands
10B Stabilizing water tables
13B Restoring fisheries
31B Protecting biological diversity
As the author points out on the next page, world military expenditures total $975B a year, with the US alone responsible for $492B (this was published before we all knew of the half trillion dollar cost of the Iraq invasion and occupation). Hence, the $161B a year total is a fraction of the total spent on out-dated military systems, and could be funded by the US alone if we had the right leadership and public consensus.
Personally, and based on other readings, I believe that the author is under-estimating the costs, and avoiding a focus on many other factors including the urgent need to eradicate transnational crime and end inter-state and civil war. This is, however, a superb start and ideally suited as a primer for any level of learning.
Readers interested in seeing a broader perspective that places the ten high-level threats (poverty, infectuous disease, environmental degradation, inter-state conflict, civil war, genocide, other atrocities, proliferation, terrorism and transnational crime) in the context of the twelve policies that must be managed as a whole by all nations (agriculture, debt, diplomacy, economy, education, energy, family, immigration, justice, security, society, and water), and that in turn oriented toward the urgency of keeping the eight challengers (Brazil, China, Indonesia, India, Iran, Russia, Venezuela, Wild Cards) from repeating our mistakes, can check in at Earth Intelligence Network.
Rescuing are planet and our civilization is going to be a great deal harder than the author suggests, and is going to need a massive awakening by the public as to the "true cost" of all that we are doing wrong. I expect that we will succeed, in part from top down efforts by Al Gore and this author among others, and in part by bottom up efforts where individuals can get from the Internet the "true cost" of any good or service in terms of water content, fuel content, sweatshop labor content, and tax avoidance status. Noami Klein's book, "No Logo" is recommended in this regard.
Over-all an absolutely superb piece of work that caps the author's decades of advocacy on behalf of the planet. There is no other person that has been focused on this topic with due diligence year after year.
Wake Up America.......2007-01-14
Lester Brown has been monitoring the state of the world for many years and is probably one of the most knowledgeable and authoritative people on this topic. The first half of the book, filled with many little known but interesting and important facts lets us know how a declining resource base at a time of rapidly increasing human population is taking us toward a very unstable and potentially dangerous world. In the second half of the book he spells out what needs to be done worldwide and how it can be accomplished with about 1/3rd of our annual US Defense Dept. expenditures if we wake up to the facts and act immediately.
The book was so factual and encouraging that I bought a dozen to share with my congregation in the hope of spreading the facts, stimulating concern, and seeing some personal action.
Average customer rating:
- The Economic Approach to Environmental and Natural Resources
|
Economic Approach to Environment and Natural Resources (with Printed Access Card)
James R. Kahn
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Environmental Economics: Theory, Application, and Policy
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Economics and the Environment
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Environmental Policy And Politics
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Forest Ecology, Third Edition
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Environmental Economics
ASIN: 0030314542 |
Book Description
This innovative, cutting-edge book takes a hands-on approach to the origins of environmental problems, their economic consequences, and the policies that address them. Economic Approach to Environment and Natural Resources with Economics presents environmental economic theory and methods in the first five chapters and then applies and reinforces them with illustrations and applications in the subsequent chapters. No other book provides a stronger link between theory and applications.
Customer Reviews:
The Economic Approach to Environmental and Natural Resources.......2000-11-27
While getting a little long in tooth, this text is an excellent introduction to environmental economics. Unlike many texts in this area, the methodology used in this text is quite similar, although less mathmatically rigorous, to presentations used in graduate studies.
Average customer rating:
|
Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
Frank Ward
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
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ASIN: 013113163X |
Book Description
The aim of this book is to provide an introduction to environmental and natural resource issues and to describe economic theories and methods used by experts working in the field.
Case Studies Comprehensive treatment of a wide range of environmental and natural resource issues.A real life introduction to each chapter engages the reader in the application of the topic at hand.Unique chapter on environmental justice.
Consultants or other professionals who works with economic analysis of environmental policy.
Book Description
Finally, a comprehensive book on land conservation financing for community and regional conservation leaders. A Field Guide to Conservation Finance provides essential advice on how to tackle the universal obstacle to protecting private land in America: lack of money.
Story Clark dispels the myths that conservationists can access only private funds controlled by individuals or that only large conservation organizations have clout with big capital markets. She shows how small land conservation organizations can achieve conservation goals using both traditional and cutting-edge financial strategies. Clark outlines essential tools for raising money, borrowing money, and reducing the cost of transactions. She covers a range of subjects including transfer fees, voluntary surcharges, seller financing, revolving funds, and Project Related Investment programs (PRIs). A clear, well-written overview of the basics of conservation finance with useful insights and real stories combine to create a book that is an invaluable and accessible guide for land trusts seeking to protect more land.
Customer Reviews:
A great guide for people who want to roll up their sleeves.......2007-04-05
Story Clark is one of the most experienced and knowledgable practitioners in the conservation finance field. Her book is an excellent resource for people who understand both that this generation of Americans has a unique opportunity to protect private and public lands in perpetuity, and that informed and determined land conservationists can actually make it happen. If you are involved in protecting the land in your backyard, or land halfway across the continent, then get this book and study it carefully. Then go out and use its lessons to leave a legacy for generations to come.
Book Description
Why shouldn't people who deplete our natural assets have to pay, and those who protect them reap profits? Conservation-minded entrepreneurs and others around the world are beginning to ask just that question, as the increasing scarcity of natural resources becomes a tangible threat to our own lives and our hopes for our children. The New Economy of Nature brings together Gretchen Daily, one of the world's leading ecologists, with Katherine Ellison, a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, to offer an engaging and informative look at a new "new economy" - a system recognizing the economic value of natural systems and the potential profits in protecting them.
Through engaging stories from around the world, the authors introduce readers to a diverse group of people who are pioneering new approaches to conservation. We meet Adam Davis, an American business executive who dreams of establishing a market for buying and selling "ecosystem service units;" John Wamsley, a former math professor in Australia who has found a way to play the stock market and protect native species at the same time; and Dan Janzen, a biologist working in Costa Rica who devised a controversial plan to sell a conservation area's natural waste-disposal services to a local orange juice producer. Readers also visit the Catskill Mountains, where the City of New York purchased undeveloped land instead of building an expensive new water treatment facility; and King County, Washington, where county executive Ron Sims has dedicated himself to finding ways of "making the market move" to protect the county's remaining open space.
Daily and Ellison describe the dynamic interplay of science, economics, business, and politics that is involved in establishing these new approaches and examine what will be needed to create successful models and lasting institutions for conservation. The New Economy of Nature presents a fundamentally new way of thinking about the environment and about the economy, and with its fascinating portraits of charismatic pioneers, it is as entertaining as it is informative.
Customer Reviews:
Essential Edition to the Literature.......2003-07-30
Paul Ehrlich recommended this title and I found it to be a necessary addition to the current body of literature on the topic. In fact, there is nothing else like this that I have run across. The crux of the book is finding ways to put a price tag on services nature performs for free so we can use the revenue for restoration and preservation of the human habitat. I did give it four stars only because the chapters were unnecessarily detailed in my opinion. Definitely worth a look.
It's a great start...........2003-01-30
I go thru phases where certain topics are of special interest, so when I saw the title of this book it peaked my interest as well as my skepticism. Since Gordon E Moore co-founder and chairman emeritus of Intell had done a positive comment on the book, and it had areas of the world that were of interest I bought it and am glad I did.
I liked the piece on Napa California west of us which has for decades suffered when the massive winter rains come thru and I wanted to read of there move toward restricting building on what is known as a flood plain, without hurting the economy.
Likewise in Chapter six, page 125 King County Washington and how people from distinctly different business backgrounds, blue colour to white collar corporate (Weyerhaeuser) worked together to protect the Snoqualmie Falls area, which having been there in person, is a majestic place that would have been ruined had big business been allowed to build there.
But it is the way the authors have made such an effort to think outside the American box, and have shown success stories from all over the world, where businesses have or are becoming enlightened and are discovering that being environmentally sound means money and success.
But as they note on page 232 "There is no single answer to the worlds environmental dilemmas, and the progress to date toward capturing the economic value of environmental services has been so limited as to be almost symbolic. Still, what has happened so far illustrates an approach with great scope for improving the world."
Not Just Capitalism -- Natural Capitalism.......2002-11-05
This book is great. I love its title, a yang to Paul Hawken's Ecology of Commerce yin. One of the book's other online reviewers prompted me to write, because I suspect the authors' predominant theme somehow got past that reviewer.
The idea is not simply that capitalism can save the world, but that well-directed, well-informed market forces will finally come to understand that beneath the bottom line of capitalism as currently practiced, there's a much more critical bottom line -- a primordial capitalism -- the living sytems of the planet. The economy of nature provides real wealth and natural wisdom without dysfunctional spinoffs like pollution, cancer, habitat destruction... If we take care of that living economy, it will take care of us.
This is an important book, because it gives us real-world examples of how nature underlies the market economy. We need this book to be used in college and high school classrooms, discussion groups,corporate retreats, and solitary late-night soul searches. Its message is critical to the continued prosperity of life as we know it.
Mixed bag of stories.......2002-10-07
Authors Gretchen Daily and Katherine Ellison have written an entertaining but ultimately unsatisfying book of case studies that are united around a common theme: namely, real-life projects in which for-profit capitalism and environmentalism may have found common ground. Daily and Ellison acknolwedge the contradiction that such a task entails, but they seem all too eager to discover opportunities where nature can be exploited in new ways to suit capital's ever-changing needs (as if this insight was somehow novel!). In fact the individual case studies represent a mixed bag in that a few appear to offer some hope for the environment while others appear to offer more hope for capital's expansion than for the earth.
But even among what I count as the more hopeful stories, precious little of the projects' success could be attributable to capital. Probably the best among them concerned the organic farming movement, which includes related efforts to preserve biodiveristy and substitute natural predatory insects for pesticides. As everyone knows, this is a movement that has been defined by its explicit rejection of standard corporate practices, yet the authors sheepishly do little to point this out. Another excellent chapter focused on the efforts of a dedicated scientist to preserve rainforest in Costa Rica. But while the scientist helped broker a deal from an orange juice manufacturer to dump its waste in the rainforest to promote regrowth in damaged areas, it seemed clear that the Costa Rican government played a much larger role in the cause of preservation that the manufacturer ever did. And of course the watershed protection project for the New York City area was spearheaded by sometimes belligerent public interest groups and the local government over significant opposition from private-property forces.
Among the less dubious stories: an Australian who is building Jurassic Park-style nature enclaves in hopes of attracting tourist dollars; an ex-Internet entrepreneur who hopes to cash in big by creating an overnight market for the buying and selling of the carbon-storing capacity of forests; and a political "deal maker" skilled in both obtaining and extracting concessions from developers in the hopes of merely slowing development. The market solutions highlighted in these and other stories point to the self-evident fragility of these projects to sustain themselves in the long run.
In an unitentionally humorous part of the book, the authors recount a think-tank exercise in which EVERYONE participating in the pretend game of land stewardship clear-cut their forest assets in the final round of play in order to maximize their returns. My criticism is not that there isn't some merit in what the protagonists of these stories are doing -- they appear to be remarkable individuals who may simply be making the best of their bad situations -- but if the world's future is dependent on the success of these individuals in coming up with market solutions to the world's environmental problems, then may God help us all.
In the end, this book fails to make a persuasive argument that capitalism can save the environment. There is some value to the case studies presented by the authors, especially where victories were achieved through democratic actions -- but this latter point was unfortunately down-played through much of the book in favor of the capitalist theme. But I think that contrary to the author's opinion, it seems obvious that the environment will continue to be exploited as long as for-profit capitalism rules the day. Therefore, I think that readers who want real answers to today's burgeoning environmental crisis will not find them in this book.
The Best New Approach to Conservation.......2002-10-05
Many of us have long hoped that governments would get on the ball and take the necessary steps to preserve our environment in general and critical ecosystem services in particular (if you're unfamiliar with them, read Daily's wonderful "Nature's Services"). If Shrub's efforts do destroy the environment have not convinced you we can't count on our leaders to end the ecological crisis, nothing will. This superb book tells of those who are taking a different approach -- trying to find ways that markets can be developed that will align economic and conservation goals. Everyone in both the business and environmental communities, as well as those in both, should read this interesting and hopeful book.
Book Description
1998 Winner of the International Studies Association's Harold and Margaret Sprout Award
Peter Dauvergne developed the concept of a "shadow ecology" to assess the total environmental impact of one country on resource management in another country or area. Aspects of a shadow ecology include government aid and loans; corporate practices, investment, and technology transfers; and trade factors such as consumption, export and consumer prices, and import tariffs.
In Shadows in the Forest, Dauvergne examines Japan's effect on commercial timber management in Indonesia, East Malaysia, and the Philippines. Japan's shadow ecology has stimulated unsustainable logging, which in turn has triggered widespread deforestation. Although Japanese practices have improved somewhat since the early 1990s, corporate trade structures and purchasing patterns, timber prices, wasteful consumption, import tariffs, and the cumulative environmental effects of past practices continue to undermine sustainable forest management in Southeast Asia.
This book is the first to analyze the environmental impact of Japanese trade, corporations, and aid on timber management in the context of Southeast Asian political economies. It is also one of the first comprehensive studies of why Southeast Asian states are unable to enforce forest policies and regulations. In particular, it highlights links between state officials and business leaders that reduce state funds, distort policies, and protect illegal and unsustainable loggers. More broadly, the book is one of the first to examine the environmental impact of Northeast Asian development on Southeast Asian resource management and to analyze the indirect environmental impact of bilateral state relations on the management of one Southern resource.
Book Description
There are often no easy answers to environmental challenges. But asking the right questions leads to a clear and effective economic framework for understanding pressing environmental problems—from finding sites for landfills, to regulating chemical emissions from manufacturing plants, to preserving species diversity.
Organized around these four key questions, Eban Goodstein’s Fourth Edition offers in-depth analysis of important environmental policy debates, and equips readers with the tools necessary to understand these issues—as economists do.
Customer Reviews:
Highly Recommended for Understanding Environmental Issues.......2004-05-19
How much pollution is too much? What role should government play in regulating the environment? Will "clean technology" lay the foundation for a sustainable future? These are the questions students of environment issues are posed with.
To help readers understand the far-reaching implications of environmental and resource economics, this text examines a broad range of topics in environmental economics. It presents "standard analysis," as well as in-depth treatment of important issues at the cutting edge of environmental policy debates.
The focus is on equipping readers with the tools necessary to analyze current environmental issues as an economist would.
In keeping with the philosophy of incorporating examples directly in the text, this book begins with a detailed case study of a "big issue" with which many students are familiar-global warming.
Other issues covered in a rigorous and comprehensive manner include the property-rights basis of environmental problems, benefit estimation techniques and benefit-cost analysis, incentive-based regulation, and sustainable resource use.
The Second Edition retains the three interrelated advantages of its predecessor-(1) broad content, (2) pedagogical clarity, and (3) timely, well-integrated examples-while incorporating major reorganizations, additions and updates aimed at enhancing learning and reflecting the most up-to-date information available.
Following the Introduction, this text centres around four focussed questions:
Part I: How Much Pollution is Enough? Part II: Is Government Up to the Job? Part III: How Can We Do Better? Part IV: Can We Resolve Global Issues?
Using these questions as guidelines, author Eban S. Goodstein develops the economic tools students need to explore solutions to environmental problems. In the process, the book covers a wealth of current examples, from global warming, to population growth, to urban air pollution and energy policy, to chemical regulation and landfill siting.
Part V covers four advanced topics: The Importance of Being Convex, Imperfect Regulation in an Uncertain World, Input-Output Models and Life-Cycle Analysis and Incentive-Compatible Regulation.
As this text addresses important questions raised in contemporary (and future) society and introduces readers to the economist's view of some solutions, it is highly recommended for students taking courses in environment management, environmental and resource economics, and environmental studies. Ideally, students would have undertaken a course in microeconomics or intermediate microeconomics as a prerequisite.
Reviewed by Azlan Adnan. Formerly a Research Officer with the Malaysian Timber Council's London office and Business Development Manager with KPMG's Kuala Lumpur office, Azlan holds a Master's degree in International Business and Management from the Westminster Business School.
### 411 words ###
Letters from Students.......2000-06-01
Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1999 15:55:19 -0500 From: C.N.Gomersall
To: eban@lclark.edu Subject: student evaluations of your text Eban, I'm the fellow who asked you about the double dividend issue last spring, when I was using your text in my class on environmental economics. As we both gear up for next semester, I thought I'd send you the results of my request, during that course last spring, for (anonymous) evaluation of the text on the part of my students. (I survey most of my classes this way, though never with this kind of result; on the contrary, students are often rather cutting.) I'm including every word from every student. (1) I like this book. I think it has good chapter layouts and is great with examples. The examples also make the text more interesting to read. (2) I like the text. I think it is very straightforward and clear. It does a very good job of organizing what is important and what is needed to understand some of the issues. (3) Goodstein's text, in my opinion, is valuable. It moves away from the strict "Friedman approach." It shows different sides of the arguments presented and is fairly detailed. (4) Goodstein's book is excellent, one of the best textbooks I used in college. Its best attribute is the many examples given, they also help in the learning process. (5) Excellent book. Well written and uses great examples. He ties in human with the well descriptive topics. [This sentence was hard to read.]
(6) Goodstein's text has been very well written and easy to use. (7) Goodstein does a good job of writing this text. Sometimes it is a bit dry and the chapters take a long time to read. Overall, though, this is a good text for this class and a good learning tool. (8) I think the Goodstein text does a pretty good job of writing at a level that we can interpret. I also like his summaries of the chapters, and pointing out of important topics in each section. (9) Good book. Interesting to read. (10) Goodstein is good at getting his point across. It seems to me that much in his book is repetitive, though. It is difficult though to talk about this subject without being repetitive. Overall Goodstein does [a] good job, especially with examples. (11) Goodstein as such has been a good selection for the text. He explains a lot of new material in a manner geared towards his primary audience, the students. I think he has done a good job. (12) The Goodstein book is excellent, in my opinion. It seems very unbiased, especially considering the possibilities of either being slanted toward the environment or the other way [sic]. It presents a lot of information without being too technical and overwhelming those of us who haven't had much economics with graphs and other "economic tools." And yes, I liked it too. (signed) Nick Gomersall
_________________________________________________________ C.N.Gomersall gomersni@luther.edu Associate Professor of Economics Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, U.S.A.
Highly Recommended for Students of Environmental Issues.......2000-01-12
How much pollution is too much? What role should government play in regulating the environment? Will "clean technology" lay the foundation for a sustainable future? To help students understand the far-reaching implications of environmental and resource economics, this text examines a broad range of topics in environmental economics. It presents "standard analysis," as well as in-depth treatment of important issues at the cutting edge of environmental policy debates. The focus is on equipping students with the tools necessary to analyze current environmental issues as an economist would.
In keeping with the philosophy of incorporating examples directly in the text, this book begins with a detailed case study of a "big issue" with which many students are familiar-global warming. Other issues covered in a rigorous and comprehensive manner include the property-rights basis of environmental problems, benefit estimation techniques and benefit-cost analysis, incentive-based regulation, and sustainable resource use.
The Second Edition retains the three interrelated advantages of its predecessor-(1) broad content, (2) pedagogical clarity, and (3) timely, well-integrated examples-while incorporating major reorganizations, additions and updates aimed at enhancing learning and reflecting the most up-to-date information available. Following the Introduction, this text centres around four focussed questions:
Part I: How Much Pollution is Enough? Part II: Is Government Up to the Job? Part III: How Can We Do Better? Part IV: Can We Resolve Global Issues?
Using these questions as guidelines, the author develops the economic tools students need to explore solutions to environmental problems. In the process, the book covers a wealth of current examples, from global warming, to population growth, to urban air pollution and energy policy, to chemical regulation and landfill siting.
Part V covers four advanced topics: The Importance of Being Convex, Imperfect Regulation in an Uncertain World, Input-Output Models and Life-Cycle Analysis and Incentive-Compatible Regulation.
As this text addresses important questions raised in contemporary (and future) society and introduces readers to the economist's view of some solutions, it is highly recommended for students taking courses in environment management, environmental and resource economics, and environmental studies. Ideally, students would have undertaken a course in microeconomics or intermediate microeconomics as a prerequisite.
Formerly a Research Officer with the Malaysian Timber Council's London office and Business Development Manager with KPMG's Kuala Lumpur office, Azlan Adnan is currently Managing Partner of Azlan & Koh Knowledge and Professional Management Group, an education and management consulting practice based in Kota Kinabalu. He holds a Master's degree in International Business and Management from the Westminster Business School.
Average customer rating:
- Not quite enough ground gained here
- The rebirth of conservation
|
Why Conservation Is Failing and How It Can Regain Ground
Eric T. Freyfogle
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
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The Land We Share: Private Property And The Common Good
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ASIN: 0300110405 |
Book Description
Critics of environmental laws complain that such rules often burden people unequally, restrict individual liberty, and undercut private property rights. In formulating responses to these criticisms, the conservation effort has stumbled badly, says Eric T. Freyfogle in this thought-provoking book. Conservationists and environmentalists haven’t done their intellectual homework, he contends, and they have failed to offer an understandable, compelling vision of healthy lands and healthy human communities.
Freyfogle explores why the conservation movement has responded ineffectually to the many cultural and economic criticisms leveled against it. He addresses the meaning of good land use, describes the many shortcomings of “sustainability,” and outlines six key tasks that the cause must address. Among these is the crafting of an overall goal and a vision of responsible private ownership. The book concludes with a stirring message that situates conservation within America’s story of itself and with an extensive annotated bibliography of conservation’s most valuable voices and texts—important information for readers prepared to take conservation more seriously.
Customer Reviews:
Not quite enough ground gained here.......2006-12-11
If you have been following Eric Freyfogle's work, then you should probably get this book. It builds on his ongoing conversation about "land health" and our own responsibility. But it is not nearly as finely crafted as some of his earlier work--particularly "The Land We Share". Get that book first if you haven't read Freyfogle yet. In this book, Freyfogle continues to build on Leopold and Berry in searching for a coherent story for conservation and land health. Two weak chapters in my opinion mar this otherwise fine work. Chapter 2 is a critique of what Freyfogle calls the "tend the garden" mentality, which he appears to link to the "wise-use" and property rights movements. There are some merits to his arguments, but he takes it a bit too far. Leopold's work very much recognized the critical and unavoidable role of humans for building healthy land. See "Gardeners of Eden", by Dan Dagget, for what I would consider a Leopoldian use of the garden metaphor about using nature to heal the earth. Freyfogle's other mistep is an attack on the concept of sustainability. He considers the idea to be too broad to be useful, and too amenable to being corrupted by a "whatever works" kind of ethic. At one point he even criticizes the powerful "triple bottom line" of economy, ecology, and community. What could be closer to a real land health ethic than integration of those three areas?
These two digressions aside, the book is a stimulating read, and if you are part of this conversation or are following it, then you need to read this book. I don't think it is quite the full expression of the land ethic, but it moves us in that direction.
A section of "Conservations Central Readings" at the end is almost worth the price of the book (well--maybe the price when it comes out in paperback, anyway!).
The rebirth of conservation.......2006-05-17
This book takes us to the fundamentals of conservation and what we need to get good land use that promotes healthy lands and people. Freyfogle tells us that conservation needs an overall goal, it needs new ideas of private property, it needs new mechanisms for making collective decisions. Those are the top three tasks he outlines. And, he argues persuasively, it will take changes at the level of cultural attitudes and values to bring them about. Without fulfilling these three top tasks, society will not be able to solve environmental and land use problems, including agricultural desertification, suburban sprawl, biodiversity loss, air and water pollution and lots of other conservation challenges. This book is a must read for anyone calling himself or herself a conservationist or who is interested in learning more about becoming one. It points the way to the opening of a new chapter in American land use and a new more positive vision for conservation. And it's nicely written to boot.
Average customer rating:
- Quick review
- Superb reference
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World Agriculture and the Environment: A Commodity-By-Commodity Guide To Impacts And Practices
Jason Clay
Manufacturer: Island Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1559633700 |
Book Description
World Agriculture and the Environment presents a unique assessment of agricultural commodity production and the environmental problems it causes, along with prescriptions for increasing efficiency and reducing damage to natural systems. Drawing on his extensive travel and research in agricultural regions around the world, and employing statistics from a range of authoritative sources including the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the author examines twenty of the world’s major crops, including beef, coffee, corn, rice, rubber, shrimp, sorghum, tea, and tobacco. For each crop, he offers comparative information including:
• a “fast facts” overview section that summarizes key data for the crop
• main producing and consuming countries
• main types of production
• market trend information and market chain analyses
• major environmental impacts
• management strategies and best practices
• key contacts and references
With maps of major commodity production areas worldwide, the book represents the first truly global portrait of agricultural production patterns and environmental impacts.
Customer Reviews:
Quick review.......2006-03-01
World Agriculture and Environment in my opinion is a very interestig book, in which you can find, besides the basic information of agricultural production, techniques that help to reduce damage to natural systems, and also this book gives important evaluations of modern agriculture and its failure.
Superb reference.......2004-05-18
This is a superb and unique reference. It provides an incredible amount of detail on crops that enter world trade, and their impact on the environment.
The very best thing about this book is that it is not strident and does not blatantly advocate a particular political agenda. It is written in a scientific, objective tone that makes it far more convincing than the rhetorical works. Only when he comes to tobacco (a crop that ruins the environment AND then ruins the consumers) does he use a few value-laden words!
The reader is struck by what a mess the world is in, and how easily we could fix a lot of that. The book provides enormous detail on soil erosion, chemical use, biodiversity reduction, and the rest of our woes, but it presents equal detail on how to prevent those problems. Only a few crops (notably cotton, salmon, chocolate) would be hard to manage well.
Two social themes stand out: first, the very rapid concentration of commodity trade in the hands of a very few firms; second, the degree to which governments subsidize production-at-any-cost as opposed to production-with-environmental-protection. (Subsidizing includes nonlegal subsidies, such as letting the rich get away with breaking environmental laws and dumping huge costs on poorer neighbors.) One cannot escape the conclusion that changing this subsidy structure would fix most of the damage, worldwide.
Environmentalists should think more about subsidies!
Meanwhile, what can a concerned reader do? The book tells how to seek out shade-grown coffee, responsibly raised beef and paper, and so on. It is much harder, at least in the US, to find decently-produced soybeans or corn or wheat, but you can do it. Cotton is a special problem, and the alternatives to it are mostly worse. The hemp advocates will be vocal!
We are in such a mess, and it would be so easy to do so much.... This is not a time to lose hope or give up. By providing the big picture, this book should make every concerned citizen stop and think. The few errors I could spot in the book are trivial ones.
This is an absolute must-read and must-have for anyone who works on problems of production and environment or on problems of world food supply and health.
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