Poisoned for Pennies – The economics of toxics and precaution: principal author Frank Ackerman with Lisa Heinzerling, Rachel Massey, Wendy Johnecheck, and Elizabeth Stanton (2008) The purpose of Ackerman’s book is to expose the weaknesses of the “cost-benefit method” of economic analysis, which has been promoted heavily since the Reagan administration, and increasingly...
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Environment
Poisoned For Pennies
The Toronto Propane Explosion
Capitalism has a nasty habit of suddenly laying a ton of grief on unsuspecting members of the working class. A typical example is when the employees of Consumers Glass in Etobicoke, Ontario, were recently told the plant was going to be shut down just two weeks after they had negotiated a union contract. But...
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Tourism: can it be green?
For those ‘green consumers’ who have adopted the principles of a green lifestyle eco-tourism fits neatly with the now familiar slogan to ‘Think Globally – Act Locally’ as a counter to environmental destruction. The adoption of a green lifestyle can include: Buying only organic food; keeping a record of your carbon footprint; using bio-degradable...
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No trees at Norilsk
Norilsk has a population of 200,000. no trees grow there. In 1930, there was nothing there, except a few reindeers and reindeer-hunters, but shortly after, nickel and other metal deposits were discovered. In 1935, construction of what was to be the city of Norilsk and the Metallurgical Combine began. Hundreds of thousands of kulak...
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Biofuels…What the hell’s goin’ on?
A series of media reports indicate that fuel produced from food crops to replace fossil oil is far from the panacea it was hoped to be. For example Guenter Verheugen, a vice president of the European Commission, stated recently that “It makes no sense to make car fuel from plants that ought to provide...
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Oh that Capitalist “Logic”
One of the “joys” of living in American cities these days is being forced to shop in one of the yuppie grocery markets which have excluded such national chains like Safeway. Just before Mother’s Day my neighborhood market, Whole Foods was advertising the glories of Ecuadorian Roses. I had to laugh at Whole Foods...
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Marx and Corals
In his latest book, Coral, A Pessimist in Paradise, the biologist and popular science writer Steve Jones attributes to Marx the statement that “we see mighty coral reefs rising from the depth of the ocean into islands and firm land, yet each individual depositor is puny, weak, and contemptible”. Marx was something of a...
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A man labours in hell.
“A man labours in hell.” So opens an article on the work of artist Darren Almond (Guardian Weekly, 25 January), referring to his video about workers who extract sulphur from the Kawah Ijen volcano in eastern Java. Imagine the scene. We are standing on the inner slope of the volcano’s crater. Below lies a...
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Better Living Through Chemistry?
Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in the Environment (originally published in WSR #20) All chemicals ingested or applied externally have the potential to be introduced into sewage systems and from there to aquatic or terrestrial environments. When those chemicals are components of personal care products such as suntan lotions, makeup, and toiletries, or...
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Can Ethical Capitalism Work?
Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank revolutionised credit for the poor, won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize and micro-finance became a household concept. The maxim – “teach people how to take a small investment, grow their business and eventually become self-sufficient”. The micro-finance sector is in the middle of a boom: “Micro-finance will grow...
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