The Gnat Is Older Than Man: Global Environment and Human Agenda - Brossura

Stone, Christopher D.

9780691001654: The Gnat Is Older Than Man: Global Environment and Human Agenda

Brossura

ISBN 10: 0691001650 ISBN 13: 9780691001654

Casa editrice: Princeton Univ Pr, 1995

Why are globe-spanning environmental problems on the rise and what can be done about them? Christopher Stone presents a concise and balanced overview of the risks, from climate change and ozone depletion to deforestation and biodiversity loss. Exploring the institutional framework, Stone shows why global problems do not always benefit from "global solutions," how environmental diplomacy has to account for the growing tensions between rich and poor nations, and why even checking population growth would not heal the planet. Stone's latest work, at once theoretical and realistic, is a major contribution to our understanding of one of humanity's greatest challenges.

Le informazioni nella sezione "Riassunto" possono far riferimento a edizioni diverse di questo titolo.

Recensione:

"A sweeping critique-its proposals cool, smart, and imaginative-with enough common sense to give the most die-hard environmentalist pause."--Kirkus Reviews

"It would be difficult to find a more balanced appraisal of our global environment dilemma than Christopher Stone provides in The Gnat Is Older Than Man. His first chapter alone is a welcome ray of light into the murky waters of doomsday prediction amidst scientific uncertainty."--Virginia Quarterly Review

"It is to Stone's credit that he elucidates his themes with a clarity and modesty that maintains academic rigor even as it opens his subject to a wide range of readers. Highly recommended for public, academic, and professional collections."--Choice

"[Stone] debunks much of the environmental hype that is designed to scare the public into action but also points out that hard evidence leaves plenty of cause for concern in some areas. The real contribution of the book is to examine the philosophical underpinnings of growing concern with the environment, address sympathetically the weaknesses in what could be called the environmentalist creed, and attempt to provide remedies for those weaknesses. It is a levelheaded, thoughtful, and informative essay."--Richard Cooper, Foreign Affairs

Contenuti:

	Preface
	Acknowledgments
Ch. I	Diagnosis: The Earth Has Cancer, and the Cancer Is Man	3
	In the Doctor's Judgment	3
	Diagnosis at Rio	5
	A Second, Less Foreboding Opinion	18
	Prognosis: Social Choice in the Face of Uncertainty	26
Ch. II	The Condition of the Earth from the Legal Perspective	33
	Astronaut and Diplomat	33
	A Nation's Abuse of Its Own Environment	37
Ch. III	Transboundary Pollution	50
	The Preventive Techniques	52
	The Reactive Techniques	57
	Consensual Transboundary Pollution	66
Ch. IV	Managing the Global Commons	71
	A Nation's "Internal" Activities Damaging the Commons	72
	A Nation's Activities on the Commons Damaging the Commons	88
	A Nation's Activities on the Commons Damaging Another Nation	94
Ch. V	Treaties as Antidotes	96
	The Virtues of a Treaty-Based Approach	96
	The Impediments to Treaty Formation	98
	Under What Circumstances are International Negotiations Likely to Succeed?	116
Ch. VI	The Economist's Prescriptions: Taxes and Tradable Permits	122
	The Economic Ideal	123
	Institutionalizing the Economic Ideal	129
	Pro Rata Cutbacks	132
	Effluent Taxes	134
	Tradable Emissions Permits	141
Ch. VII	Medicating the Earth: Preventatives and Remedies	153
	Need Our Responses Be Fully Global?	154
	Is Prevention Better than Cure?	159
	The Deferred, Go-It-Alone Policy as a Second-Best Strategy	160
	A Review of the Home-Grown Remedies	162
	The New Generation of Legislation	174
Ch. VIII	Taking Out Calamity Insurance	182
	The Application of Conventional Insurance to Climate Change	187
	Modes of Government Participation	192
	The International Precedents and Prospects	197
	Alternative "Insurance"	198
Ch. IX	Paying the Bills: Toward a Global Commons Trust Fund	201
	The Global Financing Options	203
	The Global Commons Trust Fund	208
	Financing Options in the Light of Domestic Policy Alternatives	220
	The Virtues and Vices of Global Funds: The Donors versus the "Democrats"	226
Ch. X	The Spiritual and Moral Dimensions of the Environmental Crisis: Of Humankind and Gnats	235
	The Spiritual Roots of the Environmental Crisis	235
	The Moral Dimensions	242
	What Does an Environmental Ethic Aim For?	268
	The Arguments against an Environmental Ethic	271
	The Burdens an Environmental Ethic Faces	276
	One Further Level of Abstraction: The Metaphysical Underpinnings	278
	Notes	281
	Index to Topics and Institutions	331
	Index to Authors	337
	Index to Conventions	340
	Index to Legal Cases	341