The Economics of the Environment

Edition:3rd

Date of publication:June 2015

ISBN:978-1-939402-20-2

Price:$34.95

• About
• Table of Contents

The Economics of the Environment, 3nd edition, is a lively, thought-provoking supplement designed for courses in environmental or resource economics. This newly updated anthology from Dollars & Sense, the award-winning economics magazine, tackles the issues of environmental destruction and resource depletion that mainstream economics—and mainstream texts—fail to address adequately.

The articles in The Economics of the Environment provide real-world applications of economic theory to the environmental problems of today. They illustrate the importance of economics, and especially of alternatives to mainstream neoclassical environmental economics, for understanding these critical issues—while never letting students forget that the future of the planet and the very survival of our species are at stake.

This updated third edition includes a new chapter on environmental justice that is certain to stimulate thought and discussion.

“I have been using Dollars & Sense publications for nearly 20 years. I find them absolutely necessary for students to understand progressive, critical, real-world perspectives that are sorely absent from mainstream texts and readers.”
—GEORGE JOUGANATOS, California State University–Sacramento

“As textbooks become more conservative and less topical, I find that Dollars & Sense readers are more useful than ever in my undergraduate classes. They are jargon-free, up-to-date, and inexpensive, as well as consistently and thoughtfully progressive.”
—ROBIN HAHNEL, American University

The Economics of the Environment, 3rd edition

• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Growth, Production, and Consumption
  • 1.1 Let's Just Assume We;re SustainableWilliam E. Rees
  • 1.2 Limits to Growth—Of What?James K. Boyce
  • 1.3 The Growth Consensus UnravelsJonathan Rowe
  • 1.4 Is All Growth Good? The Case of ChinaSara Hsu
  • Spotlight: Consumerism
  • 1.5 Enough in EnoughAlan Durning
  • 1.6 The Future of Work, Leisure, and ConsumptionJuliet Schor
  • 1.7 America Beyond ConsumerismThad Williamson
• Chapter 2: Environmental Measurement
  • 2.1 Pricing the PricelessLisa Heinzerling and Frank Ackerman
  • 2.2 Protecting Money or People?James K. Boyce
  • 2.3 Whither the Green Economy?Edward B. Barbier
  • 2.4 Can "Natural Capital Accounting" Come of Age in Africa?Patrick Bond
  • Spotlight: Gross Domestic Product
  • 2.5 Mismeasuring Our Economy: Why the GDP is Not UsefulJames K. Boyce
  • 2.6 Measuring Well-Being: GDP and Its AlternativesGerald Friedman
• Chapter 3: Market Failure and the Roles of Government
  • 3.1 Environmental Regulations are Not "Job Killers" After AllHeidi Garrett-Peltier
  • 3.2 Saving Energy Creates JobsHeidi Garrett-Peltier
  • 3.3 The True Cost of OilAnita Dancs
  • Spotlight: Responsible Mining
  • 3.4 Buzzwords: Responsible MiningRobin Broad
  • 3.5 The Quest for Responsible Mining PracticesRobin Broad
• Chapter 4: Environmental Justice
  • 4.1 Mapping Environmental InjusticeKlara Zwickl, Michael Ash, and James K. Boyce
  • 4.2 Lake Country, Not Trash CountryPatricia Rodriguez
  • 4.3 Katrina Hits Cancer Alley: An Interview with Monique Harden
  • 4.4 Bankruptcy as Corporate MakeoverMara Kardas-Nelson, Lin Nelson, and Anne Fischel
  • 4.5 The Great Land Giveaway in MozambiqueTimothy A. Wise
  • Spotlight: The Palm Oil Controversy
  • 4.6 Blood on the PalmsDavid Bacon
  • 4.7 Exchange: Oil-Palm Plantations on Afro-Colombian Lands
• Chapter 5: Resources and Rents
  • 5.1 Rent Capture: To What End?Alejandro Reuss
  • 5.2 Rent in a Warming WorldJames K. Boyce
  • 5.3 Turning Gas Into Development in BoliviaAaron Luoma and Gretchen Gordon
  • 5.4 Is It Oil?Arthur MacEwan
  • 5.5 Wall Street's U.S. Land GrabLukas Ross
  • 5.6 Land Reform: A Precondition for Sustainable Economic DevelopmentJawied Nawabi
  • 5.7 Whose Right to Water?Kevin Murray
  • Spotlight: The Economics and Politics of Fracking
  • 5.8 Frackonomics: The Science and Economics of the Gas BoomRob Larson
  • 5.9 Frack Off!Seth Grande
• Chapter 6: Climate Change
  • 6.1 Climate Economics in Four Easy PiecesFrank Ackerman
  • 6.2 The Costs of Extreme WeatherHeidi Garrett-Peltier
  • 6.3 Want a Cool Planet? Raise Gas Prices!Marc Breslow
  • 6.4 Maine Farmers and Climate ChangeStephanie Welcomer, Mark Haggerty, and John Jemison
  • 6.5 U.S. Polluters Uber AllesJohn Miller
  • 6.6 Will BRICS Carbon Traders Bail Out the Banks' Climate Strategy?Patrick Bond
  • Spotlight: Climate Policy and Economic Development
  • 6.7 Brazil's Quest for Sustainable DevelopmentKevin Gallagher
  • 6.8 A 2 x 4 x 20 Climate AgreementEdward B. Barbier
• Chapter 7: Agriculture, Food, and Sustainability
  • 7.1 The Failure of Modern Industrial AgricultureJohn Ikerd
  • 7.2 Hunters of Shepherds of the Sea?Samuel Scott
  • 7.3 Fiddling in Rome While Our Food BurnsMarie Brill and Timothy A. Wise
  • 7.4 Famine MythsWilliam Moseley
  • 7.5 Do Locavores Have a DilemmaAnita Dancs and Helen Scharber
  • Spotlight: Genetically Modified Organisms
  • 7.6 Corporate Power, Grassroots Resistance, and the Battle Over the Food SystemElizabeth Fraser and Anuradha Mittal
  • 7.7 High Risks, Few Rewards for Mexico with Monsanto's MaizeTimothy A. Wise
• Chapter 8: Global Issues
  • 8.1 Toward a Global Energy TransitionRoss Gelbspan
  • 8.2 Sustainable Sanitation: A Global Health ChallengeLaura Orlando
  • 8.3 Typhoon Haiyan and a Global Coastal StrategyEdward B. Barbier
  • 8.4 Why Did Commodity Prices Move Together?Manisha Pradhananga
  • Spotlight: "Free Trade" and the Environment
  • 8.5 Governments and Activists are Fighting the Corporate "Right" to Sue GovernmentsRobin Broad
  • 8.6 Is the United States a Pollution Haven?Frank Ackerman
• Chapter 9: Alternatives
  • 9.1 Sharing the Wealth of the CommonsPeter Barnes
  • 9.2 Keep It in the GroundElissa Dennis
  • 9.3 Sustainability SquaredPolly Cleveland
  • 9.4 Climate Policy as Wealth CreationJames K. Boyce
  • Spotlight: Green Jobs
  • 9.5 China's Green Jobs: Cause for Celebration?Sara Hsu
  • 9.6 Can "Abenomics" Revive Japan's EconomyJunji Tokunaga
  • 9.7 We Need a (Green) Jobs ProgramJeannette Wicks-Lim
• Contributors