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Tue Mar 4 16:45:48 EST 2008


Pacific
Northwest from a recent returnee there. With family roots in Seattle,
Durning
spent
several years working in Washington, D.C., for environmental-policy
groups.
While he
was visiting the Philippines in connection with his work, however, a
tribeswoman
asked him to describe his home. He could not, he relates, answering
weakly, ``In
America, we have careers, not places.'' Seeing the pity in her eyes,
he decided
to
bring his wife and young children back to the Northwest and make a
true home
there.
To gauge by this modestly written but rich book, he has done well. By
making a
home,
Durning means knowing the geology and ecology of a place--but also
knowing the
patterns of human history and change. Dense with information lightly
presented,
Durning's book turns to discussions of such matters as recycling, the
history of
suburbs, and the causes of urban sprawl. He notes that the assumption
that
mobility,
not accessibility to goods and services, underlies Americans' desire
to own
private
cars ``is lethal to cities,'' and that each of us lives at some cost
to the
planet
(``at one cup a day, I go through the harvest of a coffee tree every
six
weeks'').
Durning proposes ways in which we can trim that cost by reducing
materialist
expectations, by recycling, and by sharing things and talents with our
neighbors,
making community as a result. (His account of erecting a recycled
basketball
hoop
for the neighborhood children is a charming case in point.) Along the
way he
looks
at large-scale efforts to make the Northwest more livable, among them
the Boeing
Corporation's installation of energy-efficient lighting at an annual
savings of
$375,000 and downtown Portland's closing several thoroughfares to
create
pedestrian
malls. ``The politics of place is a politics of hope,'' Durning
observes. This
is a
hopeful, and welcome, addition to the literature of place, and there
is much to
learn in its pages.
Book Description :  Simplify, downshift, sustainability. What does it
all mean?
Alan
Durning returns to his home ground to consciously carve out a new life
away from
the
mainstream of politics and power. This Place on Earth is both a
personal journey
and
a working blueprint for anyone interested in a better life. Customer
Comments :
platerb at ksg.harvar.edu from Cambridge, MA , November 22, 1998  Well
written but
could have been so much more.  Durning pulled his punches on several
topics in
this
book, depriving readers of his valuable insight on some of the most
controversial
topics in the environmental movement today. The two most glaring
examples of
this
are his cursory discussions of immigration and abortion. He doesn't
discuss
whether
we should address the environmental impacts of immigration, or even
write about
whether these impacts actually exist. And although Durning goes into
great
detail
about his wife's precarious health during her second pregnancy and his
own fears
about overconsumption in the US, Durning doesn't dive into why he and
his wife
decided to carry to term their third pregnancy instead of aborting.
Durning has
written extensively and eloquently on the problems of overconsumption
in the US,
it
would have been very enlightening to see how Durning reconciled their
decision
to
have a third child with his environmental convictions. --This text
refers to the
hardcover edition of this title  tomgray at igc.org from Vermont ,
September 7,
1998
Penetrating look at the problem of sustainability.  This is an
excellent book,
covering the topic of sustainability and mingling personal experiences
and
episodes
with illustrative examples from the Pacific Northwest. Durning offers
up-to-the-minute ideas on the policies that are needed to achieve a
truly
sustainable society, and provides specific case studies where the
exist to back
up
his recommendations. But this book is more than policy
blather--Durning
chronicles
his own decision to return to the region of his childhood and shares
his
personal
thoughts and reactions as that decision is played out. Fine writing
and a
message
that our throwaway, consumer society badly needs to hear.   A reader,
January
21,
1997  One of the most important books of 1996  Durning has written a
fascinating
book that examines the potential of the Pacific Northwest bioregion
and the
people
that live there. This book demonstrates that the personal is
political, and
shows
readers how his/her own impact on the planet can be lessened. It is,
by far, one
of
the most important books written in 1996, and one of the most
important books
that
you can read in the year ahead! -

***************************************************
Tis a Gift to Be Simple : Embracing the Freedom of Living With Less
by Barbara Degrote-Sorensen, David Allen Sorensen, Barbara Sorensen
Our Price:
$8.79
You Save: $2.20 (20%) Usually ships in 24 hours Paperback - (August
1992) 110
pages
Reviews : Synopsis  Suggestions are given for telling the difference
between
needs
and wants, using time and money wisely, relaxing more, enjoying family
and
friends,
eating healthier food, conserving the earth's resources, and sorting
through
priorities.

***************************************************

Beyond Growth : The Economics of Sustainable Development
by Herman E. Daly Our Price: $12.00 You Save: $3.00 (20%) Usually
ships in 24
hours
Paperback - (September 1997) 264 pages
1st Fl, Shelves Alexander library               333.7 DAL
BENTLEY                                         333.7 DAL
Kalgoorlie-Boulder                              333.7 DAL
ARMADALE                                        333.7 DAL
Public Library Stock                    333.7 DAL
Reviews : Herman Daly is probably the most prominent advocate of the
need for a
change in economic thinking in response to environmental crisis. an
iconoclast
economist who has worked as a renegade insider at the World Bank in
recent
years,
Daly has argued for overturning some basic economic assumptions. He
has a wide
and
growing reputation among environmentalists, both inside and outside
the academy.
Daly argues that if sustainable development means anything at this
historical
moment, it demands that we conceive of the economy as part of the
ecosystem and,
as
a result, give up on the ideal of economic growth. We need a global
understanding of
developing welfare that does not entail expansion. These simple ideas
turn out
to be
fundamentally radical concepts, and basic ideas about economic theory,
poverty,
trade, and population have to be discarded or rethought, as Daly shows
in
careful,
accessible detail. These are questions with enormous practical
consequences.
Daly
argues that there is a real fight to control the meaning of
"sustainable
development," and that conventional economists and development
thinkers are
trying
to water down its meaning to further their own ends. Beyond Growth is
an
argument
that will turn the debate around. --This text refers to the hardcover
edition of
this title   Booknews, Inc. , December 1, 1996 If you're beginning to
feel that
the
phrase "sustainable development" might be going down the semantic
doublespeak
path
where being fired from your job is now dubbed "occupationally
challenged," then
Daly
is the economist for you. The innovative scholar and World Bank rabble
rouser
argues
that the catchword of environmentalists and international financiers
is being
used
by both to further their own ends. Sustainable development, as
conceived by
Daly,
becomes a radical proposition of economy as part of the ecosystem,
requiring
that we
give up an ideal of economic growth and reevaluate basic ideas about
economic
theory, poverty, trade, and population. Annotation c. by Book News,
Inc.,
Portland,
Or. --This text refers to the hardcover edition of this title
Customer Comments : Tom Birdwell (bim at fred.net) from Washington, DC ,
June 19,
1998
Fuses Christian ethics w/environmental economics effectively  Herman
Daly fills
a
spiritual void in the field of economics. He explains how current
capitalist
economic theories dependent on unlimited growth are not only
destructive to the
environmental resource base upon which the economy depends, but also
morally
indifferent to unwanted side effects such as the unequal distribution
of wealth.
The
strength of Daly's work is such that it may help bring two important
advocacy
groups
that are not normally associated we each other--environmentalists and
Christians--together into a powerful constituency.

***************************************************


For the Common Good : Redirecting the Economy Toward Community, the
Environment,
and
a Sustainable Future
by Herman E. Daly, John B. Cobb (Contributor) Our Price: $16.00 You
Save: $4.00
(20%) Usually ships in 2-3 days Paperback - (April 1994) 534 pages
1st Fl, Shelves, Alexander library              330.1 DAL
Reviews :  Booknews, Inc. , April 1, 1990 Daly (economist, the World
Bank) and
Cobb
(philosophy, Claremont Graduate School) expose the outmoded
abstractions of
mainstream economic theory. They conclude, in particular, that
economic
growth--the
prevailing yardstick for measuring economic success--is no longer an
appropriate
goal as energy consumption, overpopulation, and pollution increase.
Instead,
they
propose a new measure for the economy--the Index of Sustainable
Economic
Welfare.
Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or. -
Customer Comments : A reader from Iowa, USA , September 7, 1998
Interesting
though
a bit biased in analysis  The text is not bad in any way; meaning that
the
conclusions are reachable based on the assumptions made to get there.
Although
definitely biased against "free-market" (which is clearly not "free"
nor a
"market"
in the examples chosen), it is not as prescriptive as I had expected.
Perhaps
four
stars is a bit generous, but the book was better than I expected and
better than
most of this genre. If someone is interested in getting a
left-end-of-center
view on
the issues of sustainability, it does have some good commentary.
dgeson at plinet.com
from Denver, CO , January 27, 1998   United Nations proponent,
environmentalist
and
socialist.  A very leftist view point that encourages to not let the
common
individual make his own decisions in a free market place, unless of
course those
decisions are in line with the philosophy of the United Nations,
otherwise they
are
over ruled by the self-appointed "I am right" elitists.

***************************************************

Our Ecological Footprint : Reducing Human Impact on the Earth
by Williams E. Rees, Phil Testemale (Illustrator), William Rees,
Mathis
Wackernagel
(Contributor) Our Price: $11.96 You Save: $2.99 (20%) Usually ships in
24 hours
Paperback - (November 1995)
(avail in Perth library system -- call # 333.7 WAC)
Reviews : Synopsis  Equipped with useful charts and thought-provoking
illustrations,
this book introduces a revolutionary new way to determine humanity's
impact on
the
Earth and presents an exciting and powerful tool for measuring and
visualizing
the
resources required to sustain households, communities, regions, and
nations.
Customer Comments : LanceOlsen at aol.com from Montana, USA , June 13,
1998
Science
News gave good review of "ecological footprint"  I came upon this book
in
Science
News, a weekly that covers breaking science news across the world. SN
reviewers,
hard to impress after seeing so much science every week, gave the
concept of
"ecological footprint" a good discussion.   hakoon at tm.net.my from
Masai, Johor,
Malaysia. , September 7, 1997  Thought provoking, jolts one from the
rat race...
I
stumbled upon this book in the journal D&G, at a time I was thinking
hard about
the
direction of the civilization. So I ordered one.   It was an
unassuming book,
neatly
printed and illustrated with black and white caricatures. At first I
thought it
was
a mistake to order such a book. But as I read on, the insights of the
authors
emerged, so profound, yet so simply explained. Really, after
swallowing all the
contents for five consecutive nights, one will ask, "How come I did
not think of
this??".   The concept is vivid : it tried to explain what the
ecological
footprint
means : how much of land is required to support yourself. And it
turned out that
there is already not enough for the world. Further proliferation of
current
lifestyles is suicidal.   The authors devoted a whole long chapter on
proposals
of
alternative lifestyles. These are nowhere hardcore technical, rest
assured. They
are
blindingly simple, and yet hard to swallow. Just ask any Tom, Dick and
Harry
whether
he or she wants such a life, you will get an awkward stare : are you
in your
right
mind? The authors may be right, but when we have gone so far astray,
we have
forgotten the road from which we come.   This book cannot score 10
points,
though.
The examples on how an economy can develop without growth are not
solid enough.
While the writers are not economists, to force the reader to think
twice about
current lifestyles, they must fork out a marvelous thesis, which has
yet to be
clearly stated.   This is a good book at the introductory level.
Although it
sometimes touch on the Second Law of Thermodynamics, the reader is not
expected
to
have an a priori understanding. Its explanation is vivid and simple.
While it
may
insult Professors and those high brow academics, it is a book easy to
follow.
Worth a try.
Lawrence F. London, Jr.  Venaura Farm
intergarden.com  InterGarden
metalab.unc.edu/intergarden InterGarden
metalab.unc.edu/permaculture PermaSphere
metalab.unc.edu/intergarden/orgfarm AGINFO
lflondon at mindspring.com  london at metalab.unc.edu



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