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Majel Kong

EBSCOhost: Geography and global warming: can capitalism be greened? - 1 views

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capitalism global warming government

shared by Majel Kong on 08 Sep 10 - No Cached
  • Majel Kong on 08 Sep 10
     
    In this article, the author discusses the devastating impacts humanity suffers from global warming. As he depicts, global warming results in several server problems for many countries that lack the ability to construct their own defensive infrastructures. In addition, he strongly believes that greening capitalism seems unlikely to truly take place and that it does not necessarily spell out the efficient cure to heal global warming. It is, according to his arguments, because capitalists and government see their benefits from capitalism as the first priority and often attempt to green capitalism only in their words. Another reason he offers from the article is to do with the fact that only when capitalism and its roots are profoundly understood, can it truly be seen why greening capitalism is an easy-said-than-done task.
Taylor Riso

Nature Unbound: Conservation, Capitalism and the Future of Protected Areas - 0 views

www.amazon.com/...ref=sr_1_1

conservation

shared by Taylor Riso on 01 Mar 12 - No Cached
  • Taylor Riso on 01 Mar 12
     
    In this book, the authors discuss the use of protected areas for conservation and their ties to capitalism. The authors discuss the dualism in which many environmentalists view conservation and the preservation of protected areas as a means to halt the impacts of capitalism; however, they argue that capitalism permeates conservation practices. The authors argue that the forces of capitalism and conservation both "re-categoriz[e]" the environment. The boundaries between conservation and capitalism are not easily defined. I would recommend this book to someone who is familiar with the conservation and environmental movements. In addition, I would also recommend it to those who are familiar with the conservation movement and oppose it. I think they would gain some helpful insights about conservation that they may have not considered before.
Jim Proctor

Naomi Klein's Inconvenient Climate Conclusions - 0 views

dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/...convenient-climate-conclusions

climate capitalism policy

shared by Jim Proctor on 13 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • Jim Proctor on 13 Dec 11
     
    [A repost...didn't work first time...] For those of you considering ENVS-ish winter break reading, here's an informative interview of Naomi Klein, whose November article "Capitalism vs. the Climate" in The Nation (by no means some right-wing rag) argues that "passionate corporate and conservative foes of curbs on greenhouse gases are *right* [my emphasis] in asserting that a meaningful response to global warming would be a fatal blow to free markets and capitalism." Revkin's helpful interview links to a number of recent sources in the climate policy debate.
Anna Foreman

Jasmin Sydee and Sharon Beder - Ecofeminism and Globalisation: A Critical Appraisal - 0 views

www.democracynature.org/...beder_sydee_globalisation.htm

Ecofeminism capitalism spirituality

shared by Anna Foreman on 09 Sep 10 - No Cached
  • Anna Foreman on 09 Sep 10
     
    The idea of Ecofeminism is that the domination of women and of nature are intrinsically linked. Focusing on womens lives and roles in cultural society helps identify the ways in which their roles are similar to the environment under the umbrella of patriarchal capitalism. In this article, globalization is defined as an outgrowth of patriarchal capitalism. And the basic biological differences of our genders determines social organization.
Micah Leinbach

Dealing with a Dying Detroit - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/2011/04/06/us/06detroit.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&sq=Helping a city shrink&st=cse&scp=1

city cities urban planning poverty

shared by Micah Leinbach on 06 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • Micah Leinbach on 06 Apr 11
     
    This highlights the rare but occassional shrinking city. Detroits population and economic state is declining, and the city - structurally - may actually have to get smaller. This is, as the article notes, not exactly what urban planning is traditionally oriented towards. But that does not mean it will never happen. Imagine fuel prices increasing without a good alternative coming in - people will likely begin to abandon hinterlands and outskirts and suburbs for cities, and this problem will occur even without dramatic and rare economic decline. Or just the general appeal of cities. Or Stewart Brand's defused population bomb comes true, and economic decline due to aging populations strikes many more aging cities. So it is worth paying attention to, especially since it offers space, which I like to see as opportunity. You can do a lot with that - Detroit gets a lot of urban agriculture press, and some of the first urban farms did emerge from reclaimed abandoned property where buildings had been burned down for insurance money. And the size of the space emptying out might even make it functionally scalable, which has been a major problem. Empty neighborhoods that are structurally intact are also really interesting to me - that is a lot of initial capital set up that could be utilized in the future, allowing for some groups with very little amassed wealth or capital to potentially do something with it. Who knows what, but there looks to be a lot to play with here, and it could be really cool.
Micah Leinbach

The Economics of Biodiversity - 1 views

www.teebweb.org/LinkClick.aspx

economics sustainability

shared by Micah Leinbach on 01 Nov 10 - No Cached
  • Micah Leinbach on 01 Nov 10
     
    No light read, at 39 pages, but a good source for anyone doing research on the value of ecosystems from an economic perspective. My scant review of it indicates that it brings together a lot of different studies on the benefits people get from natural systems, and how much it would cost us to replace those with artificial systems. From the preface: "Applying economic thinking to the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services can help clarify two critical points: why prosperity and poverty reduction depend on maintaining the flow of benefits from ecosystems; and why successful environmental protection needs to be grounded in sound economics, including explicit recognition, efficient allocation, and fair distribution of the costs and benefits of conservation and sustainable use of natural resources." This report has been cited a lot lately in efforts to create some sort of system that would remove externalities from the pricing of all sorts of goods, and account for the costs of natural capital (i.e. the environment) in producing more or less everything. That would be a major environmental achievement, and social achievement in general.
  • Micah Leinbach on 01 Nov 10
     
    A better read: http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Bright-Green/2009/1116/the-economics-of-ecosystems Summarizes the report well, and also puts out the big question: can we put a price on everything? I personally am frustrated by how often debates turn into a cost-benefit analysis about the "practicality" of an idea - and I say that as a fan of the field of economics. Should we be resorting to that to defend environmental things that we value, or are there larger ideas and principles at play? Do we weaken the strength of a principles-based argument with a practicality/economically based one?
  • Jim Proctor on 01 Nov 10
     
    We'll be discussing several issues connected to this in ENVS 160 come spring, not only related to the technical and political drawbacks of pricing ecosystem services, but also the naive notions of "natural" vs. "artificial" that it often presupposes. The whole exercise reveals about the very best mainstream environmental thought can deliver…which is not good enough, in many recent scholars' opinions.
Julia Huggins

Nothing Grows Forever - 0 views

www.utne.com/...er-Endless-Growth-Economy.aspx

economics limits to growth no-grow economy politics

shared by Julia Huggins on 11 Nov 10 - No Cached
  • Julia Huggins on 11 Nov 10
     
    Economics and Politics. "In essence, endless growth puts us on the horns of a seemingly intractable dilemma. Without it, we spiral into poverty. With it, we deplete the planet. Either way, we lose. Unless, of course, there's a third way. Could we have a healthy economy that doesn't grow? Could we stave off ecological collapse by reining in the world economy? Could we do it without starving?" An old idea revisited with a slightly lengthy (but easily read) background on limits to growth and it's place in economic history, plus a new perspective on how a limit to growth might actually work, and what that might look like. I find the concept of ' "uneconomic" growth-growth that actually drives living standards downward' (to improve happiness, nonetheless), and the argument behind it, intriguing. This is on page 4. After page 5 it starts to look like an idealistic no-grow-utopia. But then this is addressed in the conclusion, as well as some theories about the psychological changes that would have to happen. Then they bring it on back home to politics, and last but not least a reminder of our biological-ecological pending doom. Oh, all the environmental interdisciplinary-ness! "When it comes to determining the shape of our economy, the planet may possess the most powerful invisible hand of all."
  • ...1 more comment...
  • Micah Leinbach on 12 Nov 10
     
    http://www.newsweek.com/2010/03/18/the-no-growth-fantasy.html A counter. The ghost of Malthus will forever haunt no-growth economists, as the ultimate "we tried that already". And the train of thought is reasonable. Malthusian fears about population are one example. There is also a long list of oil/energy scares where people claimed prices were going up and supplies were going down, but adjusting for inflation proved the error of the former and time proved the error of the latter. When history, politics, and economic theory all oppose the no-growth idea, its no surprise that its viewed with a lot of healthy skepticism. That said, I'm a big fan of Herman Daly and the idea that the economy needs to be reformed. Because GDP is an awful way to measure prosperity. But to have an alternative is equally difficult - what should the standard of success be for the great human experiment? Happiness is normally the benchmark. And to academics that sounds all right, because happiness is generally seen as people spending time amongst their families, art, and high culture. But is that naturally what makes people happy? Consumerism was in a large part rooted in a desire for happiness also. Growth was meant to make people happy by making their lives better - and it has. Higher standards of living all over do have economic roots, though that is not neccessarily inherent to them. There is a lot more to say on this, but its a long enough comment as it is, so I'll leave that for another time. I do feel its one of the more serious debates of our (all?) time though, and I'm really glad you brought it up.
  • Julia Huggins on 12 Nov 10
     
    Obviously, I don't know or care too much about economics. I dont know how my conversations keep ending up here. But. "Growth was meant to make people happy by making their lives better - and it has." Really? Who, to you, qualifies as "people"? And how do you define better? Soaring rates of depression, chemical dependency, and obesity? Or maybe it's these lives that are better (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL0U_xmRem4)?
  • Micah Leinbach on 13 Nov 10
     
    Perhaps because it relates so much to the various issues we have declared to be running rampant in the world today? It is very much connected to any environmental issue. Among a range of other issues. Anyways, I wrote a pretty lengthy response to your questions. I'll post the primary response to your questions here. A lot of it is based on the differences between economics, politics, industrialism, capitalism, and consumerism. In the tradition of Diigo debates, I have crafted a google site. https://sites.google.com/site/economicresponse/home The main page directly answers the question. The other page sets up some distinctions I see, personally, beteen various economic systems. I do not cite academic sources there, and I'm sure it would not take long to find economists who disagree with me, for what it is worth. Unfortunately, I do not have the time to flesh it out with other's ideas, and I apologize for that.
Micah Leinbach

A realist look at alternative energy - 1 views

www.csmonitor.com/...sustainability-shape-a-new-era

energy technology policy economics

shared by Micah Leinbach on 09 Nov 10 - No Cached
  • Micah Leinbach on 09 Nov 10
     
    I would consider this a must-read for those into the alternative energy side of things. While the energies it highlights aren't all new and exciting, the numbers game it plays is pretty key. This is no optimistic one-technology-solves-it-all piece, and it issues a key reminded that no alternative energy we have reaches the input/output energy found in oil. By my reading, key to getting into the next energy phase we should expect is energy reduction, and energy efficiency. Our efficiency numbers, both from a physics and an economics perspective, are awful. The guys behind the Rocky Mountain Institute wrote a book called Natural Capitalism, which offers some great insights into energy efficiency as it stands and as it could be, if anyone is interested in that side of things. One of my favorite aspects of increasing energy efficiency is how its good for economies and good for the environment - still, there is the worry that if it makes things too cheap, people will use too much (the book cites fuel efficiency standards that were so good the cost of driving dropped significanly, and so many more people drove than more energy ended up being used). There are tools to avoid that though. I digress, but still, an excellent view of where alternative energy stands as of now.
  • Micah Leinbach on 09 Nov 10
     
    One such technology that leads to energy efficiency: http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Energy/2009/1231/No-more-power-lines
  • Julia Huggins on 11 Nov 10
     
    oh man oh man oh man. huge, invisible, underground networks that transmit electricity? sounds familiar... "I have long proposed that mycelia are the earth's "natural Internet." I've gotten some flak for this, but recently scientists in Great Britain have published papers about the "architecture" of a mycelium - how it's organized. They focused on the nodes of crossing, which are the branchings that allow the mycelium, when there is a breakage or an infection, to choose an alternate route and regrow. There's no one specific point on the network that can shut the whole operation down. These nodes of crossing, those scientists found, conform to the same mathematical optimization curves that computer scientists have developed to optimize the Internet. Or, rather, I should say that the Internet conforms to the same optimization curves as the mycelium, since the mycelium came first." -- Paul Stamets more: http://peakenergy.blogspot.com/2008/07/natures-internet-vast-intelligent.html
Julia Huggins

Chapter 2 Waste Stream Components Analysis - 0 views

www.google.com/url

waste activism academics recycling situated research waste stream

shared by Julia Huggins on 10 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • Julia Huggins on 10 Apr 11
     
    A report from a waste stream analysis conducted in Arizona (cough cough situated research). Includes insights such as, "Feedback from small com- munity stakeholders suggests that mandating recycling in Arizona at this time could be counterproductive. It would require cities and towns with scant financial resources to initiate recycling programs having capital costs and transportation costs that, alone, make recycling economically burdensome."
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