Suggested Reading List
The Principles of Smart Growth
From the Principles of Smart Growth website.
As America considers its options for mitigating global climate change, energy is a central and critical issue. An important national debate has begun about whether nuclear energy and "clean coal" technologies are vital to meeting our energy needs -- or whether they carry unacceptable costs that outweigh their potential contribution to reducing the nation's greenhouse gas emissions. As we decide what our highest priorities should be for investing time and money in new energy technologies, should we consider only the carbon benefits that can be achieved at the point of combustion or reaction? Or should we consider the array of environmental, national security, economic and social costs that each technology carries over its lifetime?
In her latest book, Nuclear Power Is Not the Answer, Dr. Helen Caldicott raises that question and concludes that nuclear energy should not, and need not, be part of America's energy mix. She also challenges Americans to think much differently and more responsibility about their role in the global community. Some excerpts:
- "The good news is that there is no need to build new nuclear power plants to provide for the projected energy needs of the future. Indeed, it would be possible, using other forms of electricity generation, to close down most of the existing nuclear reactors within a decade...
- "But American politicians lack the political will, at least at the federal level, to resist the coal, oil and nuclear industries' demands and to shift their focus from these tired and dangerous technologies to explore the alternatives...
- "I have found it very difficult to get Americans in particular to understand the urgency of the global warming situation, to comprehend the extraordinary dangers of nuclear power and to develop the motivation and altruism to take personal and individual responsibility to protect the future for their children and descendents. There exists a deep sense of entitlement, a feeling that people can do anything and have anything they want, as long as they earn enough money. But the world cannot be treated like that any longer. Global resources are finite and the misapplication of science and industry has seriously damaged the ecosystems of this unique planet, threatening the ongoing existence of many millions of species, including ourselves. It is time, indeed beyond time, for Americans to step up to the true moral and spiritual responsibilities of belonging to the richest, most powerful nation on earth."
Dr. Helen Caldicott's Nuclear Power Is Not the Answer, published by The New Press on September 20, 2006. Available at good book stores everywhere.
Climate Change Impacts on the United States
National Assessment Synthesis Team, U.S. Global Change Research Program,
400 Virginia Ave. SW, Suite 750, Washington DC 20024.
| Building the Green Way by Charles Lockwood in the Harvard Business Review |
| U.S. Conference of Mayors Resolution on Chicago Climage Exchange submitted by The Honorable Richard M. Daley Mayor of Chicago |
Red Sky at Morning: America and the Crisis of the Global Environment
by James Gustave Speth, 2005, Yale University Press
The Shield & the Cloak: The Security of the Commons
by Gary Hart, 2006 Oxford University Press
Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature and Climate Change
by Elizabeth Kolbert, 2006, Bloomsbury Publishing
| Energy & Climate Change: Key Developments 1995-2005 Victoria Fleming, Jay Wrobel & William Becker [WORD / 116KB] |
An excellent reading list compiled by Steering Group member Gus Speth:
http://www.yale.edu/environment/aspen/reading.html
The City of Vancouver is frequently cited as one of the most livable cities in the world.
The challenge facing the City is how to sustain that livability as Vancouver grows.
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Americans and Climate Change: Closing the Gap Between Science and Action
by Daniel R. Abbasi.
This book reports the recommendations that emerged from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Conference on Climate Change in Aspen, Colorado, in the fall of 2005.The book can be downloaded for free at www.yale.edu/environment/publications
Mid-Course Correction: Toward a Sustainable Enterprise: The Interface Model
by Ray Anderson, Chairman of the Board of Interface Inc.
The Last Refuge: Patriotism, Politics, and the Environment in an Age of Terror
by David Orr.
Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution
by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, L. Hunter Lovins