San Antonio College Library

This text provides a reference for professionals in environmental chemistry and industrial ecology, and deals with the complex subject of waste management. "Industrial ecology may be a relatively new concept - yet it's already proven instrumental for solving a wide variety of problems involving pollution and hazardous waste, especially where available material resources have been limited. By treating industrial systems in a manner that parallels...

Film is often used to represent the natural landscape and, increasingly, to communicate environmentalist messages. Yet behind even today's "green" movies are ecologically unsustainable production, distribution, and consumption processes. Noting how seemingly immaterial moving images are supported by highly durable resource-dependent infrastructures, The Cinematic Footprint traces the history of how the "hydrocarbon imagination" has been central to...

Although renewable energies are seen as clean and green, their development can often be cause of conflict as local residents are opposed to their impact on the visual landscape. Some technologies are also limited by weather and climate. This program uses examples from the U.K., India, and Europe to examine the pros and cons of a variety of renewable energy sources. It includes a discussion of energy de-carbonization and explores the importance of...

"This work is the first transatlantic study to examine the industrial city in holistic terms, looking at the transformation of its land, water, and air. Harold L. Platt demonstrates how the creation of industrial ecologies spurred the reorganization of urban areas into separate spheres, unhealthy slums in the center and garden estates in the suburbs. By comparing Chicago and Manchester, Platt also shows how the ruling classes managed the political...

Alberta's tar sands are sometimes called the Saudi Arabia of the North, an oil deposit so rich it's transformed Canada into an energy superpower. But refineries have clear cut boreal forests, consume fresh water and natural gas, feature 80 square kilometres of toxic tailings ponds, and emit 40 million tons of greenhouse gases annually. Albertans concerned about contaminated water, diminishing air quality and increased health risks say it's time to...

"There is virtually nowhere on Earth today that remains untouched by plastic and ecosystems are evolving to adapt to this new context. While plastics have revolutionized our modern world, new and often unforeseen effects of plastic and its production are continually being discovered. Plastics are entangled in multiple ecological and social crises, from the plasticization of the oceans to the embeddedness of plastics in political hierarchies. The complexities...

The authors feel that BP's Oil Spill Response Plan was pure fantasy. For the future, our emphasis needs to be on true prevention, and our risk-management polices need to be based on better understandings of humans as well as hardware.

An expose by the Seattle Times reporter reveals a conspiracy by leading American manufacturers to dump dangerous toxic chemicals by disguising them as fertilizers.

Describes the health hazards workers in Colombia's flower growing industry face from pesticides and their efforts to organize for better working conditions.