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None of the world’s top industries would be profitable if they paid for the natural capital they use

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. In this way, businesses privatize profits and publicize costs. 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? Second, surprising no one, coal is the enemy of the human race. It’s coal again! Related:  Environnement (symbioment) : vie et problèmesCapitalismo, liberalismo, neoliberismo, neoconservatorismo

EcoInternet : Earth faces times of #GreatDying... Che cosa abbiamo fatto per meritarci Diego Fusaro? di Raffaele Alberto Ventura pubblicato martedì, 7 aprile 2015 · 377 Commenti di Raffaele Alberto Ventura In principio era un sito Internet intitolato “La filosofia e i suoi eroi”. Nei primi anni Duemila, chi cercasse in rete informazioni su Platone o Aristotele poteva facilmente imbattersi in queste pagine redatte da uno studente torinese di nome Diego Fusaro. Il sito era una galleria di santini animata da una visione schematica della storia del pensiero, ricalcata dai manuali, ma trasudava di un entusiasmo impressionante. Ho assistito alla folgorante ascesa mediatica di Diego Fusaro con un misto d’invidia e di stupefazione. Stupefazione, tuttavia, perché a leggere e ascoltare certe esternazioni di Fusaro si può avere l’impressione di avere a che fare con un idiot savant che ripete meccanicamente degli slogan. Com’è potuta accadere questa cosa che chiamiamo Diego Fusaro? Talvolta il meccanismo s’inceppa e produce delle affascinanti anomalie, dei loop e dei glitch nel tessuto logico.

In 50-49 vote, US Senate says climate change not caused by humans WASHINGTON — The Senate rejected the scientific consensus that humans are causing climate change, days after NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared 2014 the hottest year ever recorded on Earth. The Republican-controlled Senate defeated a measure Wednesday stating that climate change is real and that human activity significantly contributes to it. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, offered the measure as the Senate debated the Keystone XL pipeline, which would tap the carbon-intensive oil sands in the Canadian province of Alberta. The Senate voted 50-49 on the measure, which required 60 votes in order to pass. “Only in the halls of Congress is this a controversial piece of legislation,” Schatz said. The chairman of the environment committee, Sen. “The hoax is there are some people so arrogant to think they are so powerful they can change the climate,” Inhofe said Wednesday on the Senate floor. [MORE: What 3 towns across the world are doing about climate change] Sen.

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. “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. “Putting a price on carbon is the best way to reduce carbon pollution and slow the effects of climate change,” said Sen. “Let’s send a signal to big polluters that it’s past time to start putting a price on carbon pollution,” said Rep. 1. 2. 3. 4. All comments are welcome and can be submitted by email to cutcarbon@mail.house.gov.

Oh, Canada - By Andrew Nikiforuk For decades, the world has thought of Canada as America's friendly northern neighbor -- a responsible, earnest, if somewhat boring, land of hockey fans and single-payer health care. On the big issues, it has long played the global Boy Scout, reliably providing moral leadership on everything from ozone protection to land-mine eradication to gay rights. The late novelist Douglas Adams once quipped that if the United States often behaved like a belligerent teenage boy, Canada was an intelligent woman in her mid-30s. Basically, Canada has been the United States -- not as it is, but as it should be. But a dark secret lurks in the northern forests. That's right: The good neighbor has banked its economy on the cursed elixir of political dysfunction -- oil. With oil and gas now accounting for approximately a quarter of its export revenue, Canada has lost its famous politeness. THE RESOURCE UNDERWRITING many of these ugly behavioral changes is bitumen, a heavy, sour crude mined from oil sands.

[Amis de la Terre Midi-Pyrénées] Appunti sul Social-fascismo. La condivisione delle «idee senza parole» L’articolo che proponiamo è tratto dall’ultimo numero di Nuova Rivista Letteraria, semestrale di letteratura sociale fondato da Stefano Tassinari e pubblicato dalle Edizioni Alegre. Il n.4 della nuova serie è interamente dedicato al linguaggio, alle ideologie che lo informano, alle sue potenzialità inesplorate, ai suoi usi (anche) politici. Tra gli autori, oltre ai redattori “storici” e ad Alberto Prunetti, ci sono Giuliano Santoro, Girolamo De Michele, Selene Pascarella, Claudio Dionesalvi, Wolf Bukowski… Clicca sulla copertina per leggere l’indice e, se ti va, abbonarti. Due numeri all’anno costano 15 euro (20 se richiedi la spedizione via corriere). di Alberto Prunetti * 0. Le retorica teatrale di Mussolini ̶ perentoria, decisionale, volontaristica, carica di iperboli e di allitterazioni ̶ non doveva convincere ma sedurre: era magia fonetica priva di semantica. 1. 2. Maiuscolo. Eccessi di possessivi. Un topos diffuso: il buonismo. Un altro topos: i “radical-chic”. Asserti falsi. 3.

Adopt a Foxlight by Hank Seipp Be the first to like this update To all people following this fundraiser!! Thank you for helping us spread the word and for the many donations we already have. After fees are removed that are taken automatically from Gofundme, we have earned enough for 31 fox lights!! There is a huge need to promote peaceful coexistence and tools to show folks that Non Lethal deterrents work. We are working toward garnering 160 of these fox lights to test and use in a variety of situations as well we are going to expand this fundraiser to include other non lethal deterrent's after we have reached our 1st goal. Please note that the State of Washingtons wolf numbers are a minimum number of hard counted wolves and are likely much lower than the actual number of wolves. This is not something we can sit on our hands over. We have a standing challenge from one of our followers to donate a $500 matching donation!! Thank you!!

the ecology of happiness | living richer by living better, (not quite) incidentally "for the planet," too Climate Change Report Warns of Dramatically Warmer World This Century The report, reviewed by some of the world’s top scientists, is being released ahead of the next comprehensive studies by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2013/14, and follows the Bank’s own Strategic Framework for Development and Climate Change in 2008 (Check out: Development and Climate Change - A Strategic Framework for the World Bank Group for FY09-11) and the World Development Report on climate change in 2010. "Turn Down the Heat" combines a synthesis of recent scientific literature with new analysis of likely impacts and risks, focusing on developing countries. It chronicles already observed climate change and impacts, such as heat waves and other extreme events, and offers projections for the 21st century for droughts, heat waves, sea level rise, food, water, ecosystems and human health. "This report reinforces the reality that today’s climate volatility affects everything we do," said Rachel Kyte, the Bank’s Vice President for Sustainable Development.

EcoInternet : Global ecology is collapsing...

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