Category Archives: Ecological Economics

The economy is part of the environment, not vice versa.

Increased Support for the “Livestock and Climate Change” hypothesis

Posted on February 3, 2012 by

Livestock is not just an important factor, but the key factor driving climate change.  Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang put forward this idea in their 2009 WorldWatch article “Livestock and Climate Change,” and it is now receiving increased support and … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Vegetarianism / Veganism | 3 Comments

EcoMind Thought Trap #3

Posted on January 6, 2012 by

EcoMind: changing the way we think, to create the world we want. Frances Moore Lappé. New York: Nation Books, 2011. In EcoMind, Frances Moore Lappé sets out seven “thought traps” which she seeks to defeat and replace with better ways … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecological Economics, Limits to Growth, Peak oil | Comments Off

EcoMind Thought Trap #1

Posted on January 4, 2012 by

EcoMind: changing the way we think, to create the world we want. Frances Moore Lappé. New York: Nation Books, 2011. In EcoMind, Frances Moore Lappé (most notably of Diet for a Small Planet fame, written in 1971) sets out seven … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecological Economics, Limits to Growth, Peak oil | 1 Comment

The Economy and the Environment — Can We Have Both?

Posted on December 14, 2011 by

Can we have both economic progress and save the environment?Yes, we can have a sustainable economy and keep people employed, feed the hungry, and keep everyone warm during the winter. But the country as a whole will be poorer — … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Ecological Economics, Limits to Growth | Comments Off

Will we see change in our lifetime?

Posted on November 30, 2011 by

Change [in the direction of veganism] will come. This I believe. But (for those who live in sophisticated urban centers with large populations of enlightened vegans this will be harder to accept): we shouldn’t plan to see much of it … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecological Economics, Politics, or the lack thereof, Vegetarianism / Veganism | Comments Off

Plenty of Something (review)

Posted on November 26, 2011 by

Plenitude: The New Economics of True Wealth, by Juliet Schor (New York: Penguin Press, 2010). (Also published in paperback as True Wealth.) Plenitude argues for an “ecological economics” which turns a lot of what we think about wealth upside down.  … Continue reading →

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Is Economic Growth Over?

Posted on November 18, 2011 by

Review of The End of Growth: Adapting to Our New Economic Reality by Richard Heinberg My rating: 4 of 5 stars (as a Goodreads review) This is a tough book to review because basically, it depends on the audience. Generally, … Continue reading →

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Climate Change: are we doomed unless the world goes vegan?

Posted on September 28, 2011 by

In a recent e-mail interchange including both vegans and non-vegan recipients, one of the questions raised was whether we (the vegans) thought that the world was doomed unless the world goes vegan. This sounded like a rhetorical question, as if … Continue reading →

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Methane — a bigger problem than we thought?

Posted on September 25, 2011 by

We have a “Post-Carbon Institute” to address our reliance on fossil fuels.  But there is no “Post-Methane Institute.” Methane, the second largest human-caused contributor to global warming, often doesn’t get any respect.  The constant focus on “carbon” leads people to … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Ecological Economics, Vegetarianism / Veganism | 1 Comment

Move Over, Meat: A More Wasteful Use of Corn

Posted on September 11, 2011 by

Vegetarians used to be able to say that most corn grown in the U. S. went for livestock. According to the USDA, that won’t be true this year. Something which is even more wasteful, even more mind-boggling in its stupidity, … Continue reading →

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