Economics and the Environment: A Resource List
Numbers of websites and books that deal with the interface between economics and the environment. These are important resources. For as we confront the "exploit at any cost" crowd, represented in part by Ellen Sauerbrey's candidacy, we need to not only talk about economics talk but have specific proposals for how we can produce and exist in an environmentally sustainable manner. These resources are a place to begin.
* Krishnan, R. et al. (eds.). 1995. A survey of ecological economics (frontier issues in economics thought). Island Press, Washington, DC, ISBN 1-55963-411-1. http://www.islandpress.com/books/bookdata/SurEcolEco.html
* The International Society for Ecological Economics has a web page at http://kabir.umd.edu/ISEE/ISEEhome.html which includes information on their journal Ecological Economics.
* An on-line discussion on the subject can be found at http://csf.colorado.edu/ecol-econ
* Also, the web site for the New Economics Foundation is worth a visit http://sosig.ac.uk/NewEconomics
* Barnier, E.B. et al. (1994). Paradise Lost : The Ecological Economics of Biodiversity
* Costanza, R. (ed.). 1992. Ecological Economics: The Science and Management of Sustainability.
* Costanza, R. et al. (eds.). 1996. Getting Down to Earth : Practical Applications of Ecological Economics (International Society for Ecological Economics Series).
* Costanza, R. (ed.). 1997. An Introduction to Ecological Economics
* Costanza, R. (ed.). 1997. The Development of Ecological Economics (International Library of Critical Writings in Economics, 75)
* Daly, H.E. & Cobb, J.B.Jnr. (1994). For the Common Good : Redirecting the Economy Toward Community, the Environment, and a Sustainable Future
* Faber, M. et al. (1996). Ecological Economics : Concepts and Methods
* Hahnel, R. & Albert, M. (1990). Looking Forward: participatory economics in the 21st century.
* Jansson, A. et al. 1994. Investing in Natural Capital : The Ecological Economics Approach to Sustainability
* Jeroen C. J. M. Van Den Bergh, J.C.J.M. (1996). Ecological Economics and Sustainable Development : Theory, Methods and Applications
* Martinez-Alier. J. & Schlupmann, K. 1991. Ecological Economics : Energy, Environment and Society
* Prugh, T., R. Costanza, J. H. Cumberland, H. Daly, R. Goodland, and R. B. Norgaard. 1995. Natural capital and human economic survival. International Society for Ecological Economics Press, Solomons, MD.
* Tisdell, C.A. (1991). Economics of Environmental Conservation : Economics for Environmental and Ecological Management (Developments in Environmental Economics, Vol 1)
* Tokar, B. (1997). Earth for Sale: reclaiming ecology in the age of corporate greenwash.
* Turner, R.K., Pearce, D. & Bateman, I. (1994). Environmental economics : an elementary introduction. New York ; London : Harvester Wheatsheaf
This list was developed by Des Callaghan, Wetland Management Advisor to the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature. E-mail: des@go.com.jo
Hopkins Report: Water Crisis Looms as World Population Grows
Nearly a half-billion people around the world face water shortages today. By 2025 the number will explode fivefold to 2.8 billion people--35% of the world's projected total of 8 billion people--according to a new report from the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health.
"To avoid catastrophe...it is important to act now" to reduce the demand for water by slowing population growth, according to the Population Reports issue, Solutions for a Water-Short World, published by the Johns Hopkins Population Information Program. At the same time, warns the Hopkins report, countries must conserve water, pollute less, and manage supply and demand better.
A full copy of this report is available online at: http://www.jhuccp.org/popreport/m14edsum.stm
Paying the Price
Children are the Victims of
Environmental Degradation
Diseases caused by environmental degradation kill one in five children before age five in the poorest areas of the world, according to a report by the United Nations, the World Bank and the World Resources Institute, a Washington-based think tank.
Worldwide, almost one-fourth of disease was linked to the environmental factors of poor water and sanitation, indoor and outdoor air pollution, and vector-borne diseases. "This report amasses credible, convincing evidence that environmental deterioration is not a marginal, but a major cause." of human disease and death." says Gus Speth, administrator of the U.N. Development Program.
The report found the following:
-- Almost 4 million children
die each year from acute respiratory infections linked to indoor pollution from smoky cooking fires and other sources, and from outdoor air pollution.
-- 1 million to 3 million people,
mostly children, die from malaria,
a mosquito-borne disease linked to
environmental conditions.
-- 2.5 million children die
from diarrheal disease linked to bad drinking water and other environmental conditions.
-- As many as 3.5 million to 5 million
people in developing countries each year suffer acute pesticide poisoning each year from lack of protection during application, andmillions more are exposed to dangerous levels of the toxic chemicals.
The report showed that human health effects of global warming were already occurring with increases in deaths from vector and water-borne diseases, as well as deaths from more severe storms, flooding, heat waves and other weather maladies,
said Robert Watson, the World Bank's director for environment.
"This report shows the social and economic costs of not protecting the environment are much greater than the costs of
protecting it," Watson said.
European Website on Rural Development
"Links Between Actions for the Development of the Rural Economy" (LEADER) is a multi-million dollar effort among European nations to support programs in 850 small, "less-favored" rural communities. An additional 59 academic and technical assistance organizations also participate. Underway since 1995, the initiative encourages peer-learning among participants, largely through seminars and meetings, and increasingly through the Internet. The programs follow themes relevant to cutting-edge efforts underway in US towns, including rural retail, teleworking, culturally-based development, and sustainable development. Of Particular interest is a new grant program in the sometimes controversial area of "social capital." Approximately $30 million will fund efforts to encourage local social cohesion, strengthen social networks to bring marginalized workers into the economy, and the start-up of cooperatives. (http://www.rural-europe.aeidl.be)
Dead Zone Update and Web Site
HYPOXIC (DEAD) ZONE MAPPED FOR 1998
Dr. Nancy Rabalais of the Louisiana University's Marine Consortium, along with a group of Louisiana State University (LSU) researchers, conducted a seven-day cruise to map the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico. The group found that the low-oxygen zone covered 4,800 square miles this year, smaller than the 6,500-7,000 square miles of recent years. This year's zone was concentrated on the eastern and central Louisiana coast from the Mississippi River delta to the Marsh Island near Atchafalaya Bay. The researchers found that the zone extended further into deeper water than usual, up to 160 feet.
Jim Lee of LSU believes that the unusual weather patterns that contributed to the drought in Texas this year reshaped the distribution of the hypoxic zone. Persistent winds from the southwest and west pushed the nutrient-rich waters eastward and held them on the central and eastern Louisiana shelf. This weather pattern may have also contributed to fish kills along the Florida Gulf coast.
An excellent Web Site for information on low-oxygen problems in coastal areas is loca ted at http://state-of-coast.noaa.gov/bulletins/html/hyp_09/hyp.html
