3 comments about Green Urbanism: Learning From European Cities.

1. Beatley shows there is much to learn from the Europeans when it come to the ecological and environmental city planning. Although it would be hard to implement European planning practices on American soil, it brings a new, and beneficial perspective that many can use towards an incremental change.



2. As a college student with a focus on planning and green design I found Timothy Beatley's book inspiring. So inspiring in fact that I am travelling to Europe this fall in search of solutions to urban issues of sustainability which can be used in the states. I agree with the reviewer who said that there are large differences in structure, funding and politics in Northern Europe but I strongly disagree with his dismissive assertion that those solutions are irrelevant or impossible in the United States. What exists is possible. Livable, walkable, sustainable cities are important for people everywhere and we should look for ideas anywhere we can get them.
   As for Beatley's "slanted" case studies, he includes at the end of each chapter examples of similar initiatives and programs in American cities. Personally I don't think the author is scolding American cities for not being progressive so much as offering examples of what is possible. Are we capable of "Learning From European Cities?" Absolutely. Can they be adapted to the realities of American cities? Of course.



3. Timothy Beateley did an excellent job describing European cities and their sustainability policies. Overall it is a solid, technical approach with detailed information about policy, institutions, research. But somehow he does not succeed in convincing me about appropriate tactics to enhance sustainability in cities. He just offers extensive, I must say, rather optimistic appraisals of European cities and their policies. Yes, European cities do have advantages compared with the avarage American city. A medium sized European city mostly has a compact urban form and does nut suffer from extensive urban sprawl. But Beatley fails to distinguish between good intentions and results in urban planning. I fear that mostly his descriptions are based on rather biased information, including mine, on the possibilities and realities of European planning. He bases his analysis on the charters with good intentions, policy documents and congresses. He seems to oversee the fact that even European cities do not succeed in reducing the ecological footprint. I would rather divert the attention towards the conceptions of the real possessors of power, the builders, the industrial entrepreneurs, the image makers. The selling of sustainability seems to me the most challenging issue. Policy makers have temporarily lost their interest and are not able to implement their well intended policies.
   
   Luuk Oost

No comments about Water for Sale: How Business and the Market Can Resolve the World's Water Crisis.

1 comments about Preserving Cultural Landscapes in America (Center Books on Contemporary Landscape Design).

1. This book is well worth your time. If you have any interest in preservation and /or landscape you should read this book. It is very thought provoking and intelligently written. It poses more questions than it answers...which I believe is the intention of the editors. Because this book raises many questions and issues, I would recommend it for a book discussion club or a seminar class.

No comments about Sustaining India's Growth Miracle.

5 comments about The Solar Economy: Renewable Energy for a Sustainable Global Future.

1. Scheer's previous work on this matter was entitled "A Solar Manifesto". That should give you a pretty accurate idea as to his opinions on the matter. If you looking for a somewhat-balanced view of the coming renewable energy economy, look elsewhere (for example, Hawken's "Natural Capitalism"). If you looking for a neo-Luddite environmentalist rant, this book is exactly what you are looking for.
   
   There are numerous flaws in Scheer's reasoning. For example,
   
   1: He repeatedly calls lack of taxes a "subsidy".
   
   2: He ignores that the most promising photovoltaic technologies are based on things like titanium and ruthenium, which are not renewable and by his own data are in short supply. Even in the best case they are a complex technology that requires big, centralized plants to product (reasonably) cheaply.
   
   3: He a priori dismisses anything big or centralized.
   
   4: He considers a system that uses more human labor a GOOD thing.
   
   5: In 325 pages, he never mentions the cost of PV in $$/kwh, because it would undermine his point.
   
   6: He repeatedly insults everyone who isn't in his camp. The word "blind" must appear a hundred times in this work.
   
   I think the greatest example of Scheer's muddled thinking is the final sentence of the book.
   
   "Renewable resources will bring a new era of wealth-creating economic development - initiated not by bureaucratic fiat, but by the free choices of individuals".
   
   I think many people would agree with this. Now, if Scheer hadn't spent the previous two chapters describing in detail the many bureaucratic fiats he wanted in order to enforce his ends upon free people, he may actually finished his book with a coherent point.
   
   From a little earlier...
   
   "Instead [eco-taxation proposals] must be founded on a clearly articulated strategy to drive nuclear and fossil fuel out of the market...
   
   At least he is honest.



2. The first time I tried to read this book, it confused me so much I had to put it down for a year. The author mixes a paragraph or two of insight and vision within pages of example and data. On, this my second, read I am doing better by skimming past the long lists of examples.
   I would love to see this book boiled down to about 20 pages, with another 20 of optional documentation.
   What the author does for the reader is lay out the foundation of the modern energy system, and its hidden costs. In great detail. Then he addresses the technical aspect of several different forms of "solar" or renewable energy technologies, and their potential.
   I am learning quite a bit, even if I have to take it in small doses



3. All economic activity relies on the physical and chemical conversion of materials from one form into another, and the conversion of fuels into the energy need to distribute and consume the resultant products.
   
   Energy and raw materials are the fundament of our economies.
   
   World energy consumption show that 32 per cent is generated by burning crude oil, 25 per cent by burning coal, and 17 per cent by burning natural gas. Five per cent comes from nuclear fuels, and another 14 per cent from combustion of biomass, and hydroelectricity accounts for 6 per cent of all energy consumption.
   
   Current trends indicate the world wide burning of fossil fuels is likely to flare by 50 percent between 1990 and 2010.
   
   Is Nuclear energy life threatening? No. New pebble reactors will provide safe energy and safeguard against the possibility a critical chain reaction. France is building a new experimental fusion reactor and if successful could move the world into a hydrogen society. Long-term the world has infinite energy.
   
   Scheer wants an immediate shift away from "life threatening fossil fuel resource trap" Solar=Hydrogen=electrical, "Only with the transition to renewable resources, and thus to a solar global economy can economic logic and with it the future path of economic development be radically altered."
   
   Fallacy #1: Sheer says, increases in productivity and efficiency must stabilize resource consumption at its current level. Energy stabilize needs to be replaced with energy expansion. Life gets better as more energy becomes available. Energy consumption will only increase, increasing many fold over the next decade. Allocative efficiency favors big business and restricts competition.
   
   Fallacy #2: Sheer says, "as reserves of crude oil, natural gas and certain strategically important minerals approach exhaustion, resource crisis are becoming more intense." Who has economic control? Who sets the prices for crude? And in the end Who will pay for them? It takes time to migrate from one energy source to another. Large capital investment is required to build infrastructure. The point of no return begins as banks and corporations begin building the new energy future. Energy shortages are short term crisis that push innovation and adoption of newer and cheaper fuels. Capitalist use their profits from a crisis to build the new infrastructure and world keeps on running.
   
   Fallacy #3. Sheer says, "Energy and mineral resources are found in relatively few locations around the globe". Wow, amazing fear factor. In the 70s and 80s the US reduced dependancy on foreign oil by 50% before oil became cheap again. Today, the US and Canada represent a vast empty quarter of oil in the form of shale and tar. Canada is becoming an important source of oil. Wyoming will be developed as a new Texas oil source. Cheaper oil extraction system will become popular and make accessible oil in the western hemisphere.
   
   Sheer is the realist. Sheer responses "but which the modern techno-pundits now imbue with bright promise) has been dazzled by partial, faddishly exaggerated and overgeneralized reports of the actual developments". Change requires risk. Innovation surges and falls before maturing.



4. I liked this book, it gets a bit heavey and technical at times and I indeed had to have a breather once or twice, but it is one of the few books I wanted to read again and had too. I was already a convert to living off grid in Spain with solar and wind energy and this book a surprise Xmas gift from my son only strenghed my renewable off grid living decision. Im no eco warrior or green fanatic Im just ahead of the game, this book lets you know how little of everything we have left not just oil and coal and gas but every metal and mineral we take for granted. Our throw away society is flushing this planet down the pan. Our response till its too late is like the drunk i the pub, mines a pint please, goodbye leave the light on it will turn its self off !



5. As another reviewer has pointed out this book will not be easy going for everyone. A lot of it written in rather a dry style and is dense with good points. i.e. it is not written in the style of a popular science book. On the other hand this is what makes it so interesting and convincing in its arguments.
   
   The other thing I liked about it was that it takes a very broad view of different energy sources and considers their implications at every level. One of the main points is that when considering the efficiency of an energy source one should account for the energy wasted at every stage of the supply chain rather than the amount of energy going into and coming out of the generation plant. For example the supply chain for coal is Mining - Refining - Shipping - Coal-fired power station - National grid (high voltage) - NG (medium voltage) - Distribution (low voltage). Many of these are energy intensive processes. The supply chain for nuclear is even worse. Compare that to the on-site generation solar supply chain: PV installation - Distribution (indefinitely at no further cost). Many of the true costs of the fossil fuel supply chain is not paid by the consumer or even by the companies involved in supply. The author also considers the social costs involved, which many people seem to be willing to ignore.
   
   There are also some good insights into the oil industry. The most interesting one that comes to mind is how the oil using industries are dependent on each other for the cheap prices of oil. When crude oil is refined the proportions of different products cannot be varied to a great degree. A certain proportion will be kerosene for plane fuel, a certain proportion will be for automobile fuel, a certain proportion usable by the chemicals industry and so on. If the demand for automobile fuel decreases due to efficient engines and the demand from other industries stays the same then the other industries oil prices will go up to cover the cost. This gives the reason for the chemicals industry's opposal to fuel duty. This gives all oil using industries an incentive to keep their demand in line with everybody else's i.e. steadily increasing.
   
   An inspiring book that doesn't rely on its writing style. It gets by purely on its ideas.

3 comments about The Natural Step Story: Seeding a Quiet Revolution.

1. Anyone who has heard Karl-Henrik Robert speak in person will want to read this personal account of the evolution of TNS to date. He writes boldly and brightly - from his heart. I enjoyed it immensely and gained further insights into how to share The Natural Step story with others. Buy it!



2. The recipient of the year 2000 Blue Planet Prize (aka the Ecology Nobel), Dr. Karl-Henrik Robert has offered the world a delightful peak at his decade-long adventure in making visible the possibility of a just and sustainable future for all. Beyond skillfully describing the beginnings of the idea of The Natural Step and its framework's scientific basis, he also shares some remarkable stories that express his deep social consciousness and longing for a world that works for everyone.

   He lets the reader know, among other things, that
   --his heroes are Greenpeace activisits
   --participants at the World Economic Forum at Davos (to which he was invited) for the most part seemed unaware of the plight of the world's poor
   --the apathy and helplessness that most people feel with regard to our global dilemma may be one of the most serious problems we face in resolving the dilemma
   --the economic paradigm must change
   --new business leaders may be key to shifting current mass media reluctance to cover issues of social and ecological sustainability
   --and so much more!

   The materials in the Appendixes are worth the price of the book itself. Invaluable in understanding the core values of The Natural Step, applying its framework, and learning how the agricultural sector (one of many, by the way, who have explored this approach to strategic planning) in Sweden arrived at consensus on developing a sustainable future, the back matter will fascinate as much as the growing pains and other stories in the main portion of this singular, thought-provoking publication.

   Essential reading for anyone concerned about our common future.




3. The founder of The Natural Step has written what is partly a history of its foundation and growth, partly an explanation of the principles by which it operates and partly a guide to the future of the move towards sustainable operation. It is also partly autobiographical and gives a fascinating insight into an extraordinary career.
   Of interest to those concerned with sustainability, to systems thinkers, business strategist and to the general reader who seeks to understand the underlying principles that are elsewhere so well concealed in complexity. Robèrt's genius is in two fields: the first is in revealing the easy to understand (but less easy to apply) principles that provide a guide to moving toward sustainability, and the second is in developing and applying a form of dialogue that invites people into the creative process.
   The Natural Step is an international movement which provides education and support for commercial and government organizations seeking to move to sustainability. It does this by providing a framework, a process and case and other materials for assessing sustainability and developing a strategy to move towards full sustainability while maintaining or enhancing commercial viability.
   It offers a proven methodology for moving toward sustainability, which is valid at every level from the global to the personal, and is applied in a way that recognizes the requirements that the business (or whatever) remain viable at every step. This book by its founder is a valuable addition to an important literature.
   While the whole book is useful, Chapter 2 (Systems Thinking and Consensus), the second half of Ch. 5 on Communication tools, Chapter 6 (The System Conditions for Sustainability), and Chapter 10 (The TNS Framework) are vital to understanding the principles and their application. The metaphor of the tree and branches in chapter 2 is absolutely fundamental to understanding the approach - get away from arguing specific detail (the 'leaves') and focus on the few driving principles ('the 'trunk and branches') that drive the complexity in the leaves.
   Each case study makes a particular point. If you choose only one, Ch. 11 the McDonald's case is the one to go for, but each is carefully constructed to illustrate a specific principle.

No comments about The Sustainability Advantage: Seven Business Case Benefits of a Triple Bottom Line (Conscientious Commerce).

3 comments about Valuing the Earth: Economics, Ecology, Ethics.

1. As a citizen who is concerned about the health of the environment, I was enlightened by the essays in the first section of this book. The authors leave little room for doubt that the Earth can sustain a finite population, and for a finite length of time. Without any of the hysterical rhetoric which so often characterizes the political debate on this topic, these scholars demonstrate the fact that our existence on this, the eastern shore of Eden, is ephemeral. As a student of economics, I was impressed by the lucid exploration of free-enterprise, steady-states, and market forces in the third section. This section is home to some of the best essays in the book: T. H. Tietenberg's exposition of free-market solutions to the pollution problem as well as Ken Townsend's expert discussion of the ecological problems facing the nations of the former communist world are as important as they are timely. But, the most important respect in which I was struck by this book was as a human being. It is in the second section that Daly and Townsend--with the help of such friends as C. S. Lewis and E. F. Schumacher--address the important issue of morality. Are humans obligated to preserve something off this planet for future generations? How much consumption should we engage in? Does our economic system promote an ungodly destruction of the world in which we live. The reader should not come to this volume without a willingness to challenge his own deeply held notions about the state of the environment or the economy's role in creating that state. Neither should a reader open this book if he is searching for easy solutions to our environmental problems. Those readers with the courage to think, however, will not be dissatisfied.



2. For the advanced student of the discipline of ecological economics this essay-collection provides a handfull of the most influential classics of the field, of which many has been hard to come by for years. The essays by Garrett Hardin, Herman Daly, Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen and Paul and Anne Ehrlich are among the most frequently cited essays of the field - and for good reasons.



3. Edit of 21 Dec 07 to add links to more recent books that build on this.
   
   This is one of three books that I bought for review with the intent of selecting one for broad pro-bono distribution. Although I chose "For the Common Good" and I recommend "Ecological Economics" as the one book to buy if you buy only one (see my reviews of those books at their own pages), this book is a treasure chest of original and current thinking that should certainly be in your hands if you can afford all three books. As another reviewer has noted, it finally re-publishes some of the hard to get original thinkers from the steady-state economics era of the 1970's. However, it does so with an ample leavening of 1990's authorship, and hence could reasonably be regarded as a first-class "readings" complement to the text book ("Ecological Economics").
   
   There is a chart on page 20 of this book that is quite extraordinary. Titled "The ends-means spectrum", it brilliantly runs down from the top: Religion and Ethics as guidelines to ultimate and intermediate ends of humanity; to the middle Political Economy as a means of managing the factors of production to specific political ends; to the bottom: Technics and Physics as the "ultimate" foundation or "ground truth" of flow-entropy-matter-energy that must constrain political and religious ends.
   
   This book, in which Kenneth N. Townsend is the second contributing editor-author, blends practical, political, economic, and theological writings, over several decades, in a most pleasing manner. E. F. Schumacher's "Buddhist Economics" jumped out at me, reminding me that our predominantly Protestant corporate capitalist ethos is very far removed from the realities that guide and repress billions around the Earth, all of whom have fewer options than we do. With that thought in mind, I strongly recommend William Greider's "The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy" as a very current complement to any of the books that Dr. Daly has helped bring into the marketplace of ideas.
   
   See also, with reviews:
   The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism: How the Financial System Underminded Social Ideals, Damaged Trust in the Markets, Robbed Investors of Trillions - and What to Do About It
   Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution
   Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage

1 comments about Sustainability Indicators: Measuring the Immeasurable.

1. The sustainability of business and economic activity has become a major issue for global business and for government at all levels. But there is no universally accepted definition of 'sustainability' and measurement of progress toward sustainability is still more art than science. What is measured, how it is measured, what range of indicators are appropriate, how one values the present in relation to the future and how one arrives at a final judgement where ecological, social and economic indicators move in different directions, are all matters of intense debate.

   This book, which is specifically identified as 'work in progress', makes a valuable contribution by teasing out the questions, alternative definitions and the underlying mental models that inform them. The authors list and discuss various approaches that have been taken to developing useful indicators.

   They then develop in some detail a systemic approach to developing sustainability indicators for a project, based on the idea of Systemic Sustainability Analysis (see key points below). Essentially, the method proposed is systemic, seeks to identify and encompass multiple perspectives and is developed for a specific purpose in measuring sustainability of a specific project or situation. While it is proposed as a method that has very general application, it emphatically is not a 'general theory' of sustainability - i.e. a set of rules and measures that can be applied to all situations. It will be interesting to see the successor, which is due to be published in May 2003.

   I suggest that the reader should go to Chapter 7 after reading the Foreword and before tackling the main text. It provides an excellent overview of the issues in dealing with indicators.

   My only disappointment is that there is no mention of The Natural Step, the body that uses an approach that seeks (in my opinion very successfully) to provide an approach that is systemic, offers 'simplicity without reductionism', and derives four broad parameters against which to judge movement toward or away from sustainability. There is also no mention of the 'triple bottom line', varieties of which have recently achieved popularity as a surrogate for measuring sustainability. I expect that will be covered in the succeeding book.

5 comments about The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability.

1. This isn't an easy read. Lot of technical info but read it and re-read it. It may just be what America needs.



2. I don't even know how to begin describing how great this book is. It should be required reading for EVERYBODY on the planet. I learned about this book while watching the documentary, "The Corporation," and I'll have to admit, I wasn't expecting anything revolutionary in this book. I thought I'd be getting some interesting pictures and statistics relating to consumption, recycling, landfills, global warming...pretty much your standard environmental rhetoric (of which I'm a subscriber) to complement what I already know. What I got, however, was so much more. This book is not only about the environment, but about how the environment integrates with global business and economics. For some reason, the 'developed' world has created a disconnect between the environment and business. Hawken shows how the two are inextricably connected, and in order to guarantee a successful future for us, our children and all life on earth, business and the environment must work harmoniously and each stop being the bane of the other.
   
   His metaphor for business IS the environment: everything in nature is cyclical, which brings maximum efficiency. Nothing is more efficient than the natural world: one organism's waste is another organism's life source. If business would approach operations and resources from this perspective, waste would not be 'waste' and the benefits of increased efficiency would permeate throughout all life and systems. His metaphor is very simple but exceedingly beautiful, and only becomes more so as Hawken goes in-depth with concrete examples and further exploration of all issues from both sides. Throughout reading this book, I was continuously floored by his analysis, his insight and his prescription for the future.
   
   And a note about his prose: every sentence reflects structurally the economies and efficiencies it conveys ideologically. This man is concise and his style is powerful - every word packs a punch. He says so much with so little, maximizing the time spent in our reading investment. Clearly, I have nothing but the highest praise for Hawken and this book - it is truly visionary.



3. Looking for a book to explain how capitalism and environmentalism can coincide? This is it.
   For years we've been led to believe that if we want progress and technology advances we should learn to accept there's a price---> pollution. Mega-Corporates keep polluting our world, poisoning the water we drink and the air we breathe, destroying habitats so thoroughly that our children will probably only see wild animals at Zoos. And it's all done in the name of progress.
   Paul Hawken proves the concept of progress=pollution to be very wrong. He demands that companies cut their energy consumption by 80 percent and then use the money they save for research to help find better clean sources of energy. He demands companies reduce their waste and not simply dump it. He demands companies think of what they're doing to our world and not just the bottom line. He even thinks they can make money this way. He suggests a new, more moral way of doing business.
   A very thought provoking book raising many very tough questions about the way companies today run their businesses. A must read for anyone interested in environmental issues and the business world.



4. Paul Hawken's book "The Ecology of Commerce" is one of those books one never forgets because it changes the way you think. I first read this book back when it came out in 1994 and just re-read it.
   
   The author doesn't squawk about how bad humans are, but rather offers a sensible, deliberate perspective on how we can change our economic systems to accommodate our relationship with the rest of Nature.
   
   To avoid being an ignorant, knee-jerk reacting activist ( or at least deciding to go down that route) read this book!



5. I'm pretty sure that after you've read this book, you'll feel the way I do: that this in the one book that everyone in the world should read. If there is a more eye-opening book on the same topic than this one out there, I have yet to read it, but it doesn't matter. That's because this book will do a sufficiently good job at shedding our ignorance about the most important, most dangerous issues of our time. It shows the very roots of the problems surrounding our treatment of the environment, not only from a scientific perspective, but from the perspective of what is fundamentally, intrinsically wrong with how our whole society is arranged, on a multitude of levels (not only commerce as the title implies). It shows exactly why inaction has been the status quo until now. It also shows the real nightmare-inducing dangers of continuing business as usual regarding how we treat the environment, on a scientific level. This doesn't mean that it's a book purposely architected to incite fear, uncertainty and doubt. It is simply one of the most profound, honest, right-to-the-point accounts of the problem facing us.
   
   How do I know this? I don't. Therefore I'll now set off on a mission to read all of the other books by Amory Lovins and Paul Hawken, and possibly other books of the same caliber and on the same topic, and then decide if I want to revise this review, but I'm rather confident I won't have to :-)
   
   I don't really want to allude to the content of the book in further detail, since anything not akin to stellar praise would not do it justice. What I can merely tell you is that you won't be disappointed by reading it. In fact, you will be enthralled by coming across a such an excellent verbalization of what has been bothering you all along.