Speth, J. G. (2008). The Bridge at the edge of the world: Capitalism, the environment, and crossing from crisis to sustainability. New Haven, Conneticutt, Yale University Press.
Highlighting some important points:
page number, quotes for direct quote, <!-- text --> is my comment which is not in the book
pg x - "The environmental community has grown in strength and sophistication, but the environment has continued to deteriorate."
pg xii - "America has passed a crucial tipping point on the politics of the climate issue. From now on it will be difficult to impossible to ignore."
pg xiii - in reference to big government arguments - "It makes no sense to deprive ourselves of the democratic means to correct harmful environmental and social consequences." <!-- since many committed environmentalists would prefer an egalitarian, non-authoritative view of governance -->
pg xiv - 
"... answers are more likely to be found in the world of practical affairs. This is true to a degree, but it neglects a key point. In general, the world of practical affairs does not truly appreciate how much negative change is coming at us, nor how fast." <!-- compare to the need for experience and the other factors that come with experience such as emotional attachment --> <!-- see reed1996b.html, and others -->
pg xvi - Leopold quote - "A thing is right, when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise." <!-- Can we categorically state what's right and wrong ethically? see Susan Neiman (xxxx). Moral Clarity. -->
pg 1 - use of facts such as "Half the world's tropical and temperate forests are now gone."
pg 6 - "The underlying drivers of today's environmental deterioration have been clearly identified."
pg 7 - "perhaps the fundamental question is how can the operating instructions for the modern world economy be changed so that economic activity both protects and restores the nartural world?" <!-- definition of modern, use wiki-->
pg 9 - "incremental" and "pragmatic" - define
pg 13 - social issues are environmental issues
Chapter 1:
pg 31 - "Desertification involves more than spreading deserts. It includes all the processes that degrade productive land, eventually turning it into wasteland."
pg 38 - good fact - "At present humans are fixing as much nitrogen as nature does."
pg 40 - "The simpler, more uniform landscapes created by human activity have put thousands of species under threat of extinciton, affecting both the resilience of natural service and less tangible spirts or cultural values." my bolds
pg 41 - Stern review - global climate change could result in a 20% reduction in consumption for ever.
pg 42 - range of attitudes <!-- are these world views, see table -->
pg 43 - great transitions (Paul Raskin) <!-- I thought these were in the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment -->
fortress world
Market world - cornicopian, faith in free markets, technological advances
policy reform world - skillful policy guidance
new sustainability world - deep changes in social values away from consumption
pg 45 - quoting Thomas Berry - the great work is to "carry out the transition from a period of human devistation of the Earth to a period when humans would be present to the planet in a mutually beneficially manner..."
economic growth is the overarching priority
gains are reinvested, leading to more exploitation
economy doesn't protect environment, government doesn't control economy
market failure
fail to take environmental costs into account
don't balance the social and economic benefits and costs
pg 62 - "Of the hundred largest economies in the world, fifty-three are corporations. Exxon Mobil is larger than 180 nations."
incrementalism and pragmatism
pg 69 - seven characteristics of the environmental movement
pg 72 - our governments, as institutions, are not yet ready to deal
pg 83 - capitalism overrides the social goals
pg 86 - capitalism will generate even larger problems
pg 147 - consumerism elevates material conditions to prime position
private consumption drives GDP of USA (70%)
pg 148 - the idea that you can "get the price right" means that you can use costs and incentives to drive environmental policies
pg 149 - green consumerism
focus on "green" products not really reduction of consumption
Buying Green can change products that industries make.
Four limits on greening consumption
more fundamental area for action - reducing consumption
<!-- see the full model that tracks material throughput and wastes -->
four main lins of analysis
- consumer culture is some sort of pathology
- consumer behavior is an evolutionary adaptation - that was beneficial
- consumption is manipulated by businesses - pathology is not in the individual but in the overal structure of society
- consumption and products provide meaning and identity <!-- fashion as a language -->
<!-- multiple types of corporations, here he's refering to the for-profit corporations -->
pg 165 - "If capitalism is a growth machine, corporations are doign the growing."
"corporations are such a dominant force, something major must be done."
defining characteristics of a <!--for-profit--> corporation
corporations are being globalized
they are big - independent of the statistic (53 of largest economies are corporations/ 47 are governments)
pg 172 - discussing the book published by the International Forum on Globalization - "Environmental deterioration is placed unambiguously at the doorstep of these forces: "Econonomic globalizaiton is intrinsically harmful to the environment because it is based on ever-increasing consumption, exploitation of resources, and waste disposal problems."
pg 173 - action at three levels
1. corporate social responsibility - CSR
ISO 14000 process standards
it's voluntary, won't make the hard tradeoffs
2. government policies, including small restructuring of corporations
- renewable charters <!-- broadcast stations already have this, why not lumber companies? -->
- expel corporations <!-- such as those that don't provide a living wage, not pulling their weight -->
- limited liability
- personhood
- out of politics
- lobbying
3. change nature of corporation
"will be essential in the future, is to change the legal mandate that requires the corporation strictly to pursue its own self-interest and to give primacy to maximizing shareholder wealth."
- wealth produced by corporations should belong to all who created it - not just investors
- public purpose of the corporation should ascend to preeminence
pg 184 - successful businesses are "reluctant to risk losing their privileged status by experimenting wiht new institutional structures"
pg 185 - Wallerstine
world is being pushed to a point of either high environmental costs or risk ecological catastrophes
Dryzek agrees that "environmental prolems as a key driver of change" - quoting Speth not Dryzek
pg 186 - Robinson
Speth quoting Robinson "An organic crisis is one in which the system faces both a structural (objective) crisis and a crisis of legitimacy or hegemony (subjective)."
<!-- we discussed this on Walk 3 - what will it take for a transition, does it require a crisis -->
pg 188 - Alperovitz
Speth quoting Alperovitz about America "systemic crisis -- an era of history in which the policial-economic system must slowly lose legitimacy beause the realities it produces contradict the vaules it proclaims"
pg 188 - doesn't seem to be any alternatives to capitalism -- <!-- but there is a whole range of types of capitalism, socialism and of hybrids -->
pg 190 - policies should help realize full range of human potential
no longer give corporations special status
examples of different versions
Speth's 6 propositions
- modern capitalism has destructive effect on the environment
- affluent societies have enough
- modern capitalism is no longer increasing well-being
- there is a large social movement for change
- innovations can transform the current system
- after the cold war - there is political space for some new alternatives
identify the profound changes that are needed, that are difficicult and far-reaching
requires a transformation in politics and consciousness
individual values
human heart
consciousness
pg 201 "New sustainability worldview"
"non-material dimensions of fulfillment"
<!-- Wolfgang Sachs, says that this is against the human psyche -->
worldview has a "new triad: quality of life, human solidarity, and ecological sensibilty"
<!-- this is very similar to how we describe "egalitarian" -->
universal principles have been described in documents such as Millenium Development Goals and the Earth Charter
pg 207 - transitions list
pg 212 - societies are becoming more complex
<!-- Tainter's concept of why Rome collapsed -->
the stresses lead to breakdowns and collapses
<!-- in resilience, disturbances of the right size and energy can help the system reform, reorganize itself -->
pg 213 - need a compelling story that includes the re-enchantment
pg 217 - "The transformation of contemporary capitalism requires far-reaching and effective government.
<!-- this is a hiearchist, rule-based approach, not an egalitarian approach he mentioned earlier -->
democracy in America is in trouble
open to influence
capitalism is closed to influence
should we only focus on the small scale and ignore big, national politics?
need regional visions (such as Kirkpatrick Sale's) but has to role up to national level
pg 221 - strong deliberative democracy (Walter Barber and Robert Bartlett)
"citizens debating the options, learning together, overcoming their differences, and coming to decision."
"Neither true democracy nor environmental protection is possible where citizens become mere competitors with no commitments beyond their own narrow self interests..."
<!-- need to work to establish shared values, different categories, see Norton-->
pg 222- "essence of democracy is the deliberation rather than voting"
"requires "self-government by citizens rather than representative government in the name of the citizens""
pg 223 - <!-- link to Good environmental stewardship leads to good governance -->
<!-- link to discussion of Putnam and references on civic engagement in Portland -->
"see the need for a "cosmopolitan citizen" who enjoys multiple citizenships - national, regional, and global"
pg 224 - "Transition political philosophy rests on what has come to be called the principle of constrained pluralism. It includes three complimentary ideas: irreducibility, subsidiarity, and herterogeneity.
irreducibility - certain issues have to be governed at global level because of integrity of whole planet
subsidiarity - irreducible goals should be sharply limited and decisions made at the most local level feasible
heterogeneity - it is valid for different regions to pursue different goals and use different processes
<!-- this has overlap with SAM 3 tenets from Norton
evidence based (where does the information come from for these decisison - not ideology)
multi-scalar (irreducibility and subsidiarity combined)
place specific = heterogeneity
-->
pg 225 - human rights should be center concern and linked
<!-- not as hard as it seems when you are dealing with local environment problems, in fact difficult to separate, example Nicaragua (women, children, potable water, education, food security ) -->
pg 230 - core values <!-- aren't that strange -->
golden rule
sacredness of all life
pg 233 - "that it is a mistake to stress these gloomy and doomy realities if one wants to motivate people"