Can New Business Policies Save the Environment?

Though the scientific community largely agrees that climate change is underway, debates about this issue remain fiercely polarized. These conversations have become a rhetorical contest, one where opposing sides try to achieve victory through playing on fear, distrust, and intolerance. At its heart, this split no longer concerns carbon dioxide, greenhouse gases, or climate modeling; rather, it is the product of contrasting, deeply entrenched worldviews. This brief examines what causes people to reject or accept the scientific consensus on climate change. Synthesizing evidence from sociology, psychology, and political science, Andrew J. Hoffman lays bare the opposing cultural lenses through which science is interpreted. He then extracts lessons from major cultural shifts in the past to engender a better understanding of the problem and motivate the public to take action. How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate makes a powerful case for a more scientifically literate public, a more socially engaged scientific community, and a more thoughtful mode of public discourse.

The field of Environmental Management (EM) involves a broad and evolving repertoire of practices. The field originated around 1970 in response to new policy, regulation and public concern about environmental issues. EM has undergone many changes and improvements since then, progressing from a reactive, compliance-based focus toward, in leading cases, practices reflecting strong commitment to sustainability. And yet, EM remains, for the most part, ill-equipped to deal with the complex and highly uncertain implications of the ecological crisis. Environmental Management offers a rigorous critique of conventional EM and explores alternative ideas, frameworks and approaches that are currently considered "fringe", but which have the potential to transform the practice of EM. This book goes beyond narrow definitions and considers questions regarding the purpose, roles, scope and potential of environmental management. EM is situated and contextualized within the evolving and expanding realm of environment and sustainability literature. The book argues that new approaches to EM need to be more flexible, imaginative and better equipped to address future environmental problems of a scale and severity previously unforeseen. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental management, environmental planning, resource management, and environmental assessment.

This unique collection of nearly 200 Primary Documents examines the evolution of concern about environmental degradation, pollution, climate change, and resource conservation in America from the Colonial period the present. This new third edition is filled with important updates and new coverage of documents published from 2010 to 2017 that discuss current thoughts on climate change, environmental reform, toxic chemicals, sustainable energy, gas drilling, oil pipelines, energy demand, clean energy, land management, marine life and more. Detailed historical introductions begin each chapter and precede each primary document, to provide a context for analyzing each document and will aid readers in better understanding the various stands taken in debates over how, why, and if our environment needs to be protected. Documents include the writings of naturalists, conservationists, scientists, philosophers, lawyers, judges, politicians, sociologists, artists and poets, as well as from government reports, federal, state, and local legislation, and court cases to provide balanced coverage. An in-depth General Introduction gives the reader a clear, succinct overview of the extremely complex environmental issues covered in this resource. Additional materials include Significant Dates in American Environmental History, Major National Environmental Organizations, a Detailed Glossary, Sources for Further Reading and a Cumulative Index. Documents include the writings of naturalists, conservationists, scientists, philosophers, lawyers, judges, politicians, sociologists, artists and poets, as well as from government reports, federal, state, and local legislation, and court cases. Readers will be introduced to documents illustrating Pollution in Plymouth Colony Harbor in 1668, John James Audubon on the Decimation of the Bison Herds in 1843, the Act Establishing Yellowstone National Park in 1872, excerpts from the Clean Air Act of 1955, the Supreme Court Decision of Sierra Club v. Morton in 1972, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the United Nations Convention and Protocol on Ozone Depletion in 1987, Barak Obama's Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force on Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts and the Great Lakes in 2010, and much more. Detailed historical introductions begin each chapter and precede each primary document, to provide a context for analyzing each document and will aid readers to better understand the various stands taken in debates over how, why, and if our environment needs to be protected. The Environmental Debate presents a wide variety of attitudes about environmental issues, to ensure balanced and complete coverage of the environmental debate. A Detailed Glossary and Cumulative Index complete the text. The Environmental Debate offers unequaled coverage of one of the most debated topics in American history. This updated third edition, with its broad array of perspectives, will be a welcome resource for students wishing to explore controversial environmental issues from as many different angles as possible.

Contemporary Climate Change Debates is an innovative new textbook which tackles some of the difficult questions raised by climate change. For the complex policy challenges surrounding climate migration, adaptation and resilience, structured debates become effective learning devices for students. This book is organised around 15 important questions, and is split into four parts: What do we need to know? What should we do? On what grounds should we base our actions? Who should be the agents of change? Each debate is addressed by pairs of one or two leading or emerging academics who present opposing viewpoints. Through this format the book is designed to introduce students of climate change to different arguments prompted by these questions, and also provides a unique opportunity for them to engage in critical thinking and debate amongst themselves. Each chapter concludes with suggestions for further reading and with discussion questions for use in student classes. Drawing upon the sciences, social sciences and humanities to debate these ethical, cultural, legal, social, economic, technological and political roadblocks, Contemporary Debates on Climate Change is essential reading for all students of climate change, as well as those studying environmental policy and politics and sustainable development more broadly.

This third edition of an enduring and popular book has been fully updated and revised, exploring the two opposing paradigms of sustainability in an insightful and accessible way. Eric Neumayer contends that central to the debate on sustainable development is the question of whether natural capital can be substituted by other forms of capital. Proponents of weak sustainability maintain that such substitutability is possible, whilst followers of strong sustainability regard natural capital as non-substitutable. The author examines the availability of natural resources for the production of consumption goods and the environmental consequences of economic growth. He identifies the critical forms of natural capital in need of preservation given risk, uncertainty and ignorance about the future and opportunity costs of preservation. He goes on to provide a critical discussion of measures of sustainability. Indicators of weak sustainability such as Genuine Savings and the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare also known as the Genuine Progress Indicator are analysed, as are indicators of strong sustainability, including ecological footprints, material flows and sustainability gaps. This book will prove essential reading for students, scholars and policymakers with an interest in ecological and environmental economics and sustainable development.

This novel publication includes summaries of the main issues arising from an internet discussion on the changing perspectives on environmental education in the light of the global initiative on sustainable development. Fifty experts from around the world discussed in five rounds how they see the field evolving. The accompanying CD-ROM allows you to delve into the points made by each participant. It also contains a top-10 list of books and sites on the subject. It explains how the web site discussion was managed, for those interested in learning more about mobilizing knowledge using the opportunities of the worldwide web.