How do we redesign a new economic theory framed by ecological systems? | Guardian Sustainable Business | Guardian Professional
Economics as we know it today is broken. Unable to explain, to predict or to protect, it is need of root-and-branch replacement. Or, to borrow from Alan Greenspan, it is fundamentally "flawed". But where do we look for inspiration in facilitating what is the mother of all paradigm shifts? Interestingly, the most insightful and strikingly innovative ideas are coming from all directions other than the economics profession. Ecology offers the insight that the economy is best understood as a complex adaptive system, more a garden to be lovingly observed and tended than a machine to be regulated by mathematically calculable formulae. From anthropology we learn that economy and society are inseparable and that markets and money are relatively recent arrivals, a thin veneer layered onto a much older history of co-operation, gift and reciprocity. At our college, the core hypothesis we work with is that nature is mentor. This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional.
The Ecology of Commerce :: A Book Review by Scott London
The fact that the title of this book, The Ecology of Commerce, reads like an oxymoron illustrates how wide the gap has become between the natural world and our commercial lives. Business believes that if it doesn't continue to grow and instead cuts back and retreats, it will destroy itself. Ecologists believe that if business continues its unabated expansion it will destroy the world around it. Central to Hawken's argument are two basic facts: 1) the age of industrialism, as we know it, has come to an end; and 2) we are confronting a global ecological crisis that is considerably more acute than most of us realize. Creating a restorative economy means rethinking the fundamental purpose of business, according to Hawken. Business has three basic issues to face, Hawken says: what it takes, what it makes, and what it wastes. Because the restorative economy, as Hawken envisions it, inverts ingrained beliefs about how business functions, it may produce unusual changes in the economy.
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The International Society for Ecological Economics | is.eco.eco
Gund Institute for Ecological Economics
Marsh Professor Lecture: Amy Dickman, Warriors, Witchcraft & Women: Carnivore Ecology and Conservation in Tanzania’s Ruaha Landscape Wednesday, April 16 at 3 p.m. in Memorial Lounge, Waterman Building UVM is hosting Amy Dickman, Kaplan Senior Research Fellow in Felid Conservation at Pembroke College, University of Oxford. Dickman, a UVM James Marsh Professor-at-Large, has more than 15 years experience working on large carnivores in Africa, specializing in big cats and human-carnivore conflict mitigation. Dickman and her Tanzanian team are researching the ecology of these vital populations and working to reduce the pressing threat of human-carnivore conflict in this critical area. The goal of the James Marsh Professors-at-Large Program is to bring outstanding individuals to campus of international distinction in the arts and humanities, sciences, social sciences and applied fields. A reception will immediately follow the lecture in Waterman Manor. Information: (802) 656-3186.
Green America - About Us
Green America is a not-for-profit membership organization founded in 1982. (We went by the name "Co-op America" until January 1, 2009.) Our mission is to harness economic power—the strength of consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace—to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society. Our Vision We work for a world where all people have enough, where all communities are healthy and safe, and where the bounty of the Earth is preserved for all the generations to come. What Makes Green America Unique We focus on economic strategies—economic action to solve social and environmental problems. Our democratically-constituted board is elected by our members from our consumer, business, and staff stakeholders. Learn more about our work » Meet our staff and board » Read our history »
the ecology of happiness | living richer by living better, (not quite) incidentally "for the planet," too
Waxman, Whitehouse, Blumenauer, and Schatz Release Carbon Price Discussion Draft
Today, Representative Henry A. Waxman, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Representative Earl Blumenauer, and Senator Brian Schatz released draft carbon-pricing legislation and solicited feedback on it from stakeholders and the public. The legislation would establish the polluter pays principle for dangerous carbon pollution, requiring large emitters to pay for the pollution they emit. The “discussion draft” released today contains a new and straightforward approach to putting a price on carbon pollution. The nation’s largest polluters would have to pay a fee for each ton of pollution they release. The legislation assigns responsibility for the assessment and collection of the carbon fees based upon the expertise that has already been developed by EPA and the Treasury Department. “Putting a price on carbon could help solve two of the nation’s biggest challenges at once: preventing climate change and reducing the budget deficit,” said Rep. 1. 2. 3. 4.
None of the world’s top industries would be profitable if they paid for the natural capital they use
The notion of “externalities” has become familiar in environmental circles. It refers to costs imposed by businesses that are not paid for by those businesses. For instance, industrial processes can put pollutants in the air that increase public health costs, but the public, not the polluting businesses, picks up the tab. While the notion is incredibly useful, especially in folding ecological concerns into economics, I’ve always had my reservations about it. To see what I mean, check out a recent report [PDF] done by environmental consultancy Trucost on behalf of The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) program sponsored by United Nations Environmental Program. It’s a huge task; obviously, doing it required a specific methodology that built in a series of assumptions. Here’s how those costs break down: So how much is that costing us? (A “region-sector” is a particular industry in a particular region — say, wheat farming in East Asia.) The biggest single environmental cost?
