front cover of This Sovereign Land
This Sovereign Land
A New Vision For Governing The West
Daniel Kemmis
Island Press, 2001

In the eight states of the interior West (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming), 260 million acres -- more than 48 percent of the land base -- are owned by the federal government and managed by its Washington, D.C.-based agencies. Like many other peoples throughout history who have bristled under the controlling hand of a remote government, westerners have long nursed a deep resentment toward our nation's capital. Rumblings of revolution have stirred for decades, bolstered in recent years by increasing evidence of the impossibility of a distant, centralized government successfully managing the West's widespread and far-flung lands.

In This Sovereign Land, Daniel Kemmis offers a radical new proposal for giving the West control over its land. Unlike those who wish to privatize the public lands and let market forces decide their fate, Kemmis, a leading western Democrat and committed environmentalist, argues for keeping the public lands public, but for shifting jurisdiction over them from nation to region. In place of the current centralized management, he offers a regional approach that takes into account natural topographical and ecological features, and brings together local residents with a vested interest in ensuring the sustainability of their communities. In effect, Kemmis carries to their logical conclusion the recommendations about how the West should be governed made by John Wesley Powell more than a century ago.

Throughout, Kemmis argues that the West no longer needs to be protected against itself by a paternalistic system and makes a compelling case that the time has come for the region to claim sovereignty over its own landscape. This Sovereign Land provides a provocative opening to a much-needed discussion about how democracy and ecological sustainability can go hand in hand, and will be essential reading for anyone interested in the West and western issues, as well as for all those concerned with place-based conservation, public lands management, bioregionalism, or related topics.


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front cover of Toward Sustainable Development
Toward Sustainable Development
Concepts, Methods, and Policy
Edited by Jeroen C.J.M. van den Bergh and Jan van der Straaten; International Society for Ecological Economics
Island Press, 1994

Toward Sustainable Development is a comprehensive and wide ranging exploration of the theoretical and practical aspects of the concept of sustainable development. Internationally known scholars present an in depth critique of traditional economic methods and ideas, and a new framework for analysis of issues of development and environmental policy. The book:

  • outlines the historical development of the concept of sustainable development
  • clarifies the many interpretations of what sustainable development is
  • presents new and detailed assessments of the concepts, methods, and implementation of sustainable development policies

As well as explaining the conceptual and theoretical background, the book discusses methods and techniques, and examines issues of policy and implementation. It offers both critical observations on old approaches, and valuable guidelines for recent innovations.

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Trade and the Environment
Law, Economics, and Policy
Edited by Durwood Zaelke, Robert F. Housman, and Paul Orbuch
Island Press, 1993
Trade and the Environment is an important primer for anyone concerned with the impact of trade agreements on the global environment. After examining some of the broader aspects of the debate, the book turns to specific concerns: When is it appropriate for one country to use trade measures to influence industrial behavior in another country? How are international environmental standards set? When are low environmental standards in one country a subsidy to that country's industries? With chapters representing the views of industrial leaders, trade advocates, environmentalists, international organizations, and policymakers from both the developed and developing world, Trade and the Environment provides insight into the full spectrum of issues, concerns, and parties involved in this critical debate.
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The Trade-Off Myth
Fact And Fiction About Jobs And The Environment
Eban Goodstein
Island Press, 2000
Many Americans believe three things about jobs and the environment: that the implementation of environmental protection measures has created ongoing, widespread unemployment; that it has caused large numbers of plant shutdowns and layoffs in manufacturing; and that it has led many U.S. firms to flee to developing countries with lax environmental regulations. Virtually all economists who have studied the issue agree that each of these propositions is false.In The Trade-Off Myth, economist Eban Goodstein provides an in-depth examination of the deep-seated, but ultimately mistaken, American belief in a widespread jobs-environment trade-off. Remarkably, his is the first book to state unambiguously the truth about jobs and the environment. Goodstein offers a readable and accessible analysis of the labor impacts of environmental regulation, as he: considers the roots and staying power of misperceptions regarding job security and environmental regulation analyzes various models used to predict employment impacts, and explains how changes in assumptions can drastically change predicted outcomes lists and debunks, myth-by-myth, widely held perceptions about the impacts of environmental regulation on jobs examines localized hardships caused by environmental protection measures within specific industries and regions, and considers what can be done to mitigate those impacts explores the revisionist view that environmental protection measures can actually create jobs looks at jobs-environment issues that are likely to emerge as we attack the problem of global warming.The Trade-Off Myth presents in clear, accessible language the consensus of economists who have examined the jobs-environment issue, and offers the first comprehensive look at the truth behind the myths that pervade discourse on environmental regulation. It will be essential reading for environmentalists, concerned citizens, policymakers, public officials, and anyone involved with debates over strengthening environmental regulations.
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