[.ca] Eco Economy (ISBN 0393321932)

Profoundly Important Book:
If money were no object, I would mail copies of Lester Brown's "Eco-Economy" and Paul Hawken's "Natural Capitalism" to every CEO, country leader, and business school dean on the planet. Eco-Economy is a well-researched, balanced, detailed portrayal of where the world is today ecologically, and where the world could be in the future, depending on the choices we make (or fail to make) when it comes to managing our fragile and taxed natural environmnent. Brown makes his case clear: it is now time for ecologists to team up with economists to ensure that the prices we pay for all goods and services "tell the ecological truth". One of the most critical examples is the price we pay in North America for gasoline: the pump price has never reflected the total true costs that are borne by members of society and by the natutal environment. Until governments impose gasoline taxes that reflect those total true costs, the fossil fuel resource will continue to be undervalued and wasted. To read Eco-Economy is to go on an emotional roller coaster ride. The earlier chapters accurately describe the perilous state of many ecological systems, such as life-sustaining aquifers being depleted or contaminated, and irreversible soil erosion due to the removal of trees. I found these chapters well worth reading, but very disturbing. What is good news for the reader and, more important, good news for the planet, is that Brown offers numerous examples of how we can (technically, at least; if we could now just muster the required political will) stop or even reverse our erstwhile environmentally damaging behaviour -- in other words, "how to get there from here". Brown identifies sustainability-related opportunities and responsibilities for all key sectors of the human race: government leaders, business CEOs, NGOs, academics. Further, Brown reminds us that lone individuals can make a difference, too: the publishing of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring represented a much-needed "threshold" that prompted the world to re-think its use of DDT. Thus, for those of us who do not run a government or a company, we have the power of the pen on our side, and we can choose to exercise that power.

A societal "how to":
This is a very thorough and readable analysis of why we need to move decisively toward sustainability and how to do so at a societal level. It is written for the general reader, contains a wealth of sometimes quite startling facts (the ore processed to produce a pair of gold wedding rings would fill a hole 10 feet long, 6 feet wide and 6 feet deep!) and gives more attention to what needs to be done and how to do it than to describing what is wrong. It is a book for the citizen, the student and for use in political dialogue rather than for business people seeking to improve the sustainability of their operations, (for which see Hawken, Robèrt, Nattrass and others). The book has three purposes. The first is to make the case that we have no alternative to restructuring the economy if we want economic progress to continue in the decades ahead. The second is to describe not only the broad structure of the eco-economy, but some of its details. And the third is to outline a strategy for getting from here to there in the time available. It sketches the need to move to an eco-economy based on renewable energy and an approach to materials use that mirrors the natural cyclical processes. It also reinforces the systemic nature of change, involving deep changes in societal attitudes, linked to cooperation between government, community and business. Chapter 4 The Shape of the Eco-Economy offers some interesting predictions about the industries and professions that are likely to expand, and to act as drivers in the move towards sustainability. This is in support of his point that, far from the move being a threat to our economic health, it offers vast opportunities for investment and for true economic development.

No-Nonsense Approach to a Very Serious Issue:
The book deserves every single star rating it has. It's well redacted, the ideas are well put by the author, and it's easily accesible for those who don't have a science/environment/economics background. All the ideas and conclusions are superbly supported, and the book leads the reader to unavoidable conclusions about what to do with our environment. This book's is so relvant to today's economy/ecology, then the author goes further and puts forth a workable framework to both, save the economy and humnaity. Very good book indeed.

Eco-Economy:
Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth by Lester Brown is a novel that discusses the relationship of economics and the environment. Brown examines how we must achieve an environmentally sound economic system for which mutualism can occur. This mutualism is a very important concept for if we expect to use our resources wisely, we need to benefit both the economic and environmental aspects of the equation. In the first section of the book, Brown relays the message of how people are ruining the environment through the idea of maximizing profits and trying to clean up after them instead of just avoiding the degradation of the environment all together. Secondly, Brown interprets how an eco-economy would benefit as well as work in our world today. This makes me think of the billions of dollars Bush just proposed to spend on the study of hydrogen-powered cars of the future. Of course Bush's reasons were of different origin for doing this, but that's another story. With this grant directed toward hydrogen powered cars, our ecosystem can sigh a little relief for this is a good way for people to recognize the problem who were not formerly aware of it. The third section of the book touches on how we as a society are to take the first step in turning our economy into an eco-economy. He highlights this by declaring that the tax system needs a makeover. This basically means that taxes must be raised on those activities that harm the environment substantially. This is a great way to send a message to polluters that change is in need, and that our world needs help before it is too late. My interpretation of this book is that we need an economic system that is able to conserve/protect our depleting natural resources while at the same time solve the problem of our economy loosing precious biodiversity and resources. There obviously is not a reasonable solution our there yet that we can agree on. There are many ideas, but no solutions as of now. If we ever intend to change this environmental crisis as well as fix the recession, change is in need, and fast.

A convincing vision of a sustainable society:
Lester Brown, Chairman of the Worldwatch Institute, which is known for the high quality of its reports, presents his vision of an environmentally sustainable economy - an eco-economy. The purpose of his book is to show that we have no alternative to restructuring the economy if we want economic progress, to describe with some degree of confidence what the eco-economy will look like and to outline a strategy of how to get there in the time available. After cataloguing the grim decline in the planet's ability to carry on with business as usual, and pointing out that mismanagement is destroying forests, rangelands, fisheries and croplands, - the four eco-systems that supply our food and, except for minerals, all our raw materials - Eco-Economy provides hope that the solutions are within our reach, affordable and can lead to new employment opportunities and a higher standard of living. An economy is sustainable only if it respects the principles of ecology; if it does not, it will decline and eventually collapse; there is no middle ground. Relying on distorted market signals to guide investment decisions is a recipe for disaster. We need a change in mind set similar to that when our ancestors accepted that the earth revolves around the sun. Twenty five years ago the concept of environmentally sustainable development - restoring carbon balances, stabilizing population and water tables, conserving forests, soils and plant/animal diversity - was introduced but not one country is progressing satisfactorily on all fronts. Nonetheless glimpses of the eco-economy are visible. Many countries have stabilized their population - the first requirement for a sustainable future, - banned construction of coal-fired power plants or nonrefillable beverage containers, reforested, and encouraged use of bicycles. These are all facets of building a sustainable economy in marked contrast to the fossil-fuel-based, automobile-centered, throwaway economy of today. Perhaps the most profound change will occur in the energy field where wind-generated energy at a cost as low as four cents per watt is likely to be a major source of energy for the foreseeable future. By electrolyzing water to produce hydrogen during slack times we have the means of storing wind energy and, in due course, of transporting it through defunct oil and gas pipe lines. Use of natural gas will keep expanding for the present as it is an ideal fuel for the transition from a carbon-based economy to one based on hydrogen. Together, electricity and hydrogen can meet all the needs of a modern society. Other renewable sources of energy will play a lesser role. During the 1990s photovoltaic sales increased by an average of 20% per year, climbing by 43% in 2000, while the capacity of geothermal increased by 4% and hydro by 2%. Energy conservation and efficiency is still the best investment we can make with such items as compact fluorescent lamps having a very rapid pay back. The United States could meet the Kyoto protocol by 2010 simply by moving to Europe's energy efficiency levels, which in turn are not yet taking full advantage of the state of the art technologies. The second major change will occur in materials handling. Failure to adopt a comprehensive recycling program has resulted in removing New York City's 12,000 ton daily output of garbage in a fleet of vehicles 15 km long, on the 900 km round trip. A simple measure like recycling paper would shorten the convoy by 4.5kms. Metals are a major problem as their mining and processing are environmentally destructive and energy intensive. Redesigning the materials economy to be compatible with the eco-system includes such measures as easy disassembly for recycling, reducing waste generation, banning throw away beverage containers, improved methods of manufacturing, clustering factories so that waste from one acts as an input to another, legislation requiring a minimum percentage of recycled material and setting a zero emissions goal. Most worrying of all is China's rapid rise in standard of living and the world's inability to support a western standard of living with a western way of doing business. As an example if annual paper use in China were to rise to US levels, it would need more paper than the world currently produces. Mr. Brown describes ways to do the same job using far less raw material. In similar fashion the book deals with agriculture and food, forest products, cities, population stabilization, and leadership. This book has helped me in two ways. First, I lacked a grand and convincing vision of what a sustainable society might look like and the second was that in a period of such rapid change I feared that an investment today might turn out to be a white elephant tomorrow. I believe that the future painted by Lester Brown is not only possible but is almost bound to happen if each of us do our part, as much is already being put in place. I can adopt his vision as my vision feeling much more confident in my actions and that I can leave a better world to my children and grandchildren. In Bangkok one evening at 9pm all television stations focused on a huge electricity meter while the announcer asked everyone to switch off unnecessary lights and electrical appliances. Everyone was amazed to see the meter wind down enough to switch out two power stations. We have to remember that building a sustainable economy requires both major structural changes in addition to billions of small actions world wide.