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RECORD NUMBER: 172 OF 540

Main Title Environmental debt : the hidden costs of a changing global economy /
Author Larkin, Amy.
Publisher Palgrave Macmillan,
Year Published 2013
OCLC Number 812068632
ISBN 9781137278555; 1137278552
Subjects Economic development--Environmental aspects ; Economic policy ; Renewable energy sources ; Technological innovations--Environmental aspects ; Développement conomique ; Politique conomique ; Economie de l'environnement ; Changement climatique ; Aspects conomiques ; Innovations technologiques ; Ekonomisk utveckling--miljèoaspekter ; Tekniska innovationer--miljèoaspekter ; Ekonomisk politik ; Fèornybara energikällor
Holdings
Library Call Number Additional Info Location Last
Modified
Checkout
Status
EIAM  HD75.6.L37 2013 Region 2 Library/New York,NY 12/16/2019
Collation xii, 244 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm
Notes
Includes index. Includes bibliographical references (pages 223-232) and index.
Contents Notes
A framework for 21st century commerce -- Environmental debt -- The quest for true profits -- Courage: high risk, high reward -- Moving beyond fossil fuels: the public, private and individual sectors -- Extreme weather and the food/water/energy nexus -- The cutting edge of innovation: in the lab, the executive suite, the halls of Congress and the patent office -- Why don't we? : a transition agenda. In this book the author, an environmental activist and social entrepreneur exposes the link between our financial and environmental crises. For decades, politicians and business leaders alike told the American public that today's challenge was growing the economy, and that environmental protection could be left to future generations. Now in the wake of billions of dollars in costs associated with coastal devastation from Hurricane Sandy, rampant wildfires across the West, and groundwater contamination from reckless drilling, it has becoming increasingly clear that yesterday's carefree attitude about the environment has morphed into a fiscal crisis of epic proportions. The author has been at the forefront of the fight for the environment for years, and in this book she argues that the costs of global warming, extreme weather, pollution and other forms of "environmental debt" are wreaking havoc on the economy. Synthesizing complex ideas, she pulls back the curtain on some of the biggest cultural touchstones of the environmental debate, revealing how, for instance, despite coal's relative fame as a "cheap" energy source, ordinary Americans pay $350 billion a year for coal's damage in business related expenses, polluted watersheds, and in healthcare costs. And the problem stretches far beyond our borders: deforestation from twenty years ago in Thailand caused catastrophic flooding in 2011, and cost Toyota 3.4 percent of its annual production while causing tens of thousands of workers to lose jobs in three different countries. To combat these trends, the author proposes a new framework for 21st century commerce, based on three principles: 1) Pollution can no longer be free; 2) All business decision making and accounting must incorporate the long view; and 3) Government must play a vital role in catalyzing clean technology and growth while preventing environmental destruction. As companies and nations struggle to strategize in the face of global financial debt, many businesses have begun to recognize the causal relationship between a degraded environment and a degraded bottom line. Profiling the multinational corporations that are transforming their operations with downright radical initiatives, the author presents smart policy choices that would actually unleash these business solutions to many global financial and environmental problems. This book sweeps aside the false choices of today's environmental debate, and shows how to revitalize the economy through nature's bounty. -- From publisher's website.