San Antonio College Library

Weaving together history, science, and personal experience, ranging from Adam Smith and The Wealth of Nations to Leontief analysis and wilderness zoning, The Economy of Nature offers a blueprint for a greener and more prosperous world. It states quite bluntly that in the debate over wilderness preservation versus economic growth, both sides are wrong, and that a third path is not only possible but necessary. This third path is not a compromise between...

"Global warming. Acid rain. Expanding deserts. Dwindling forests. Depletion of the ozone layer. Freshwater scarcity. The problems are all too familiar, and the lengthening list adds up to a crisis that threatens to overwhelm us unless an unprecedented level of international cooperation can be reached." "But all countries have not contributed equally to these problems, and all are not in equal positions to solve them. Shridath Ramphal, former secretary-general...

A critical dilemma for the modern economy is that growth is required to prevent the pain of unemployment. As growth continues, the environment declines, but if growth slows, unemployment rises. We seem trapped in a spiraling predicament like that of the addict. Explores whether getting "unhooked" from growth to meet the needs of the environment is possible. [publisher web site].

"Wolfgang Sachs has become known as one of the most thoughtful and appealing intellectuals to interrogate the world which the West has created in the latter half of the 20th century. He confronts the way in which it undermines both nature and social justice. And in order to protect the biosphere and achieve equity between human beings, he demands civilizational changes from the global consumer classes. Here for the first time, his most seminal writings,...

India's sustained and rapid economic growth offers an opportunity to lift millions out of poverty. But this may come at a steep cost to its environment and natural resources. This insightful book analyses India's growth from an economic perspective and assesses whether India can grow in a "green" and sustainable manner. Three key issues are addressed. The first is the physical and monetary costs and losses of environmental health and natural resources...

We are in the midst of an enormous global energy transition happening before our eyes. Alternative energy forms including solar, wind, water, and bio-fuels are challenging the established energy sources that have fuelled the industrial era for the past century. As we look to this century's energy future an examination of the past is important to understand how these choices will be made. What political, economic, and ethical lessons can be learned...

Two of the greatest problems facing the human race today are poverty and the threat to the natural environment. Economic growth is routinely advocated as the solution to poverty, but the natural environment is already threatened by current levels of economic activity. This book examines both economic and ecological approaches to this dilemma, and considers policy issues for industrial economies. It also includes a useful review of recent literature...

"Sustainable Development and the Limitation of Growth presents the ecological, demographic, economic and socio-psychological manifestations of the global crisis, and outlines the immutable laws and limitations which determine the existence of all living things in the biosphere." "This unique work argues for a change in the sustainable development paradigm, the strategic nucleus of which must be the conservation of ecosystems, especially forests, still...

Argues that many of the elaborate actions being considered to stop global warming are too costly and will have little impact, and suggests that society's focus should be on such immediate concerns as fighting HIV/AIDS and maintaining a fresh water supply.