Description
Book SynopsisThis book offers a positive vision of an environmentally sustainable future and lays out the steps ahead as we make the transition. Steven Cohen explores the causes of environmental degradation and examines what sustainability looks like in practice.
Trade ReviewAs a preeminent scholar of environmental science and policy, Steven Cohen is uniquely qualified to assess the major question of this extraordinary book: ‘How do we realistically get from the current economic paradigm to one that permits economic growth while protecting the planet’s ecosystems?’ With rigor and nuance, he analyzes the challenges, assesses the competing ideological positions, and proposes pragmatic responses that can help us achieve a growing economy within the limits of environmental sustainability. His levelheaded and well-founded evaluations provide workable responses to the competing economic and environmental forces that face society. I salute his optimistic outlook and urge that stakeholders at all levels heed his carefully balanced recommendations. -- Michael M. Crow, president and professor of science and technology policy, Arizona State University
Environmentally Sustainable Growth offers a comprehensive yet digestible approach to building a sustainable future. Cohen’s deep expertise working in the field of environmental sustainability shines through in this book. He synthesizes several decades of knowledge while incorporating timely lessons and examples that illustrate his pragmatic approach. These lessons include strategic investments in infrastructure, technology, industrial processes, political processes, and organizational capacity, which are all necessary for overcoming the barriers we face in achieving a sustainable future. Anyone interested in understanding how to minimize the impacts of human consumption and production on environmental health without sacrificing the vibrancy of our economy should read
Environmentally Sustainable Growth. -- Tanya Heikkila, codirector of the Center for Policy and Democracy, University of Colorado Denver
Environmentally Sustainable Growth offers an ambitious framework and road map for how societies can transform themselves to become more sustainable. An original and significant contribution to the literature on sustainable development. -- Sheldon Kamieniecki, dean emeritus, Division of Social Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz
Cohen does a marvelous job of illustrating case examples, drawing on years of research on environmental sustainability, stressing especially those issues most relevant to younger generations. Libraries with collections on environmental studies, the sciences, and natural resource policy and management should have a copy of this text. Highly recommended. * Choice Reviews *
Highly recommended. * American Library Association (ALA) *
Table of ContentsPreface
Acknowledgments
1. Defining and Understanding Environmental Sustainability
2. The Current State of Environmental Degradation
3. The Fundamental Causes of Environmental Degradation
4. A Strategy for Reducing Pollution and Growing a Renewable Resource-Based Economy
5. Building Public Sector Infrastructure to Support Environmental Sustainability
6. Changing the Politics and Communication of Environmental Sustainability
Conclusion: The Long Transition to Environmental Sustainability Is Already Underway
Index
