http://metacourses.org/ecologicaleconomics/index.php en ida.kub@uvm.edu Copyright 2009 2009-04-06T21:34:00-05:00 http://metacourses.org/ecologicaleconomics/site/time_for_a_green_bottom_line/ http://metacourses.org/ecologicaleconomics/site/time_for_a_green_bottom_line/#When:21:34:00Z Source: Canwest News Service Date: March 28, 2009 Ecological economists say that rather than patching up the current economic system, we should take the crisis as a wake-up call that endless growth isn’t possible on a finite planet. ‘Energy is almost all sunlight,” remarks Peter Brown, a professor of environmental studies at McGill University. Plants, like the grass, convert the sun’s energy into sugar, creating the food that supports nearly all life on Earth. Fossil fuels like oil and coal are also a form of sunlight. Stored in the Earth’s crust, they formed millions of years ago from decayed plants and animals. “What industrial civilizations run on is the stocks of old sunlight,” Brown notes. Brown is a philosopher, a Quaker and co-author of a new book that argues that humans have made the tragic mistake of separating economics from the laws that govern the natural environment. With the global economy spiralling into recession, governments around the world are slashing borrowing costs and flooding credit markets with billions in emergency loans. But ecological economists say that rather than patching up the current economic system, we should take the crisis as a wake-up call that endless growth just isn’t possible on a finite planet. Read full story >> 2009-04-06T21:34:00-05:00 http://metacourses.org/ecologicaleconomics/site/brazil_environment_agency_seizes_amazon_soy_corn/ http://metacourses.org/ecologicaleconomics/site/brazil_environment_agency_seizes_amazon_soy_corn/#When:18:46:00Z Source: Grist Date: May 20, 2008 Brazil’s environmental agency Ibama said on Tuesday it seized some 4,740 tonnes of soy, corn and rice grown on illegally deforested land in the Amazon as the country struggles with its environmental image abroad. SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil’s environmental agency Ibama said on Tuesday it seized some 4,740 tonnes of soy, corn and rice grown on illegally deforested land in the Amazon as the country struggles with its environmental image abroad. Brazil’s farming, biofuels and ranching sectors, Latin America’s largest, have come under fire, especially in Europe, for unregulated expansion at the cost of the environment, particularly in the Amazon. The European Union has been pushing to limit imports of commodities such as biofuels from Brazil on the grounds of sustainability. The government and large farming interests in Brazil have begun to realize the importance of public relations in trade and are investing to improve the country’s environmental, sanitary and labor image abroad. “The seizure is a milestone in the battle against deforestation, since it hits exactly at the activities that stimulate environmental crime,” Leandro Aranha, the coordinator of inspection at Ibama in the northern state of Para, in the lower Amazon Basin, said. Very little of Brazil’s grains and biofuels production occurs anywhere near the Amazon, but the price of beef has risen to levels that makes ranching in the Amazon profitable. Loggers, shadowy real estate companies and squatters account for most of the illegal deforestation in the region. Full story >> 2007-12-10T18:46:00-05:00 http://metacourses.org/ecologicaleconomics/site/ukraine_sfm/ http://metacourses.org/ecologicaleconomics/site/ukraine_sfm/#When:15:30:00Z Fall 2007 This atelier, hosted by the Institute of Ecological Economics, Ukrainian National Forestry University and the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, University of Vermont, aims to improve the design and implementation of public policies regarding Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) in Ukraine during the transition economy. Donec lobortis. Proin at eros non eros adipiscing mollis. Donec semper turpis sed diam. Sed consequat ligula nec tortor. Integer eget sem. Ut vitae enim eu est vehicula gravida. Morbi ipsum ipsum, porta nec, tempor id, auctor vitae, purus. Pellentesque neque. Nulla luctus erat vitae libero. Integer nec enim. Phasellus aliquam enim et tortor. Quisque aliquet, quam elementum condimentum feugiat, tellus odio consectetuer wisi, vel nonummy sem neque in elit. Curabitur eleifend wisi iaculis ipsum. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. In non velit non ligula laoreet ultrices. Praesent ultricies facilisis nisl. Vivamus luctus elit sit amet mi. Phasellus pellentesque, erat eget elementum volutpat, dolor nisl porta neque, vitae sodales ipsum nibh in ligula. Maecenas mattis pulvinar diam. Curabitur sed leo. Proin at eros non eros adipiscing mollis. Donec semper turpis sed diam. Sed consequat ligula nec tortor. Integer eget sem. Ut vitae enim eu est vehicula gravida. Morbi ipsum ipsum, porta nec, tempor id, auctor vitae, purus. Pellentesque neque. Nulla luctus erat vitae libero. Integer nec enim. Phasellus aliquam enim et tortor. Quisque aliquet, quam elementum condimentum feugiat, tellus odio consectetuer wisi, vel nonummy sem neque in elit. Curabitur eleifend wisi iaculis ipsum. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. In non velit non ligula laoreet ultrices. Praesent ultricies facilisis nisl. Vivamus luctus elit sit amet mi. Phasellus pellentesque, erat eget elementum volutpat, dolor nisl porta neque, vitae sodales ipsum nibh in ligula. Maecenas mattis pulvinar diam. Curabitur sed leo. Proin at eros non eros adipiscing mollis. Donec semper turpis sed diam. Sed consequat ligula nec tortor. Integer eget sem. Ut vitae enim eu est vehicula gravida. Morbi ipsum ipsum, porta nec, tempor id, auctor vitae, purus. Pellentesque neque. Nulla luctus erat vitae libero. Integer nec enim. Phasellus aliquam enim et tortor. Quisque aliquet, quam elementum condimentum feugiat, tellus odio consectetuer wisi, vel nonummy sem neque in elit. Curabitur eleifend wisi iaculis ipsum. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. In non velit non ligula laoreet ultrices. Praesent ultricies facilisis nisl. Vivamus luctus elit sit amet mi. Phasellus pellentesque, erat eget elementum volutpat, dolor nisl porta neque, vitae sodales ipsum nibh in ligula. Maecenas mattis pulvinar diam. Curabitur sed leo. 2007-12-06T15:30:00-05:00