Rating: 
Summary: 20/20 Visionary
Review: Lester Brown occupies an unique position, as former president and founder of the Worldwatch Institute and current president of the Earth Policy Institute (check out both sites online). Not only does he want to make a change, but he has access to information that is truly global in scope. There may perhaps be no other author with such an intimate understanding of the trends that now face humanity at the dawn this new century. The first quarter of the book provides a bird's-eye view of our planet, a planet in decline. Whatever undefined notions you might have had about what writer Thomas Berry has termed 'ecocide' will suddenly be very clear. Afer a litany of statistics that are absolutely mind-boggling, Brown's statement that "we are losing the war to save the planet" no longer smacks of hyperbole. But this is no pessimist's rant. The next third of the book outlines a stunning vision of Brown's eco-economy. Don't mistake, this is not eco-utopia - but damn close! Cars that produce water as waste. Sustainable fisheries and forest that don't collapse. An economy based on wind and solar-powered. His vision of a sustainable tomorrow is nothing less than the measure of today. I hesitate to think of what will happen if continue with business as usual, that is, if we continue with our fossil-fuel-based, automobile-centered, throwaway economy. The last third of the book outlines the practical steps we must make in order to bring in this new eco-era. These include: a tax shift that hits messy industries, the end of government subsidized ecocide, quality ecolabeling (voting with our wallets), and tradable permits that set well-defined limits on, say, units of allowed fish per year. Brown, like so many oher eco-economists, also emphasizes the need to work within the limits of our natural capital (nature's productive and absorbtion capacity). Every section of this book is cogently argued, factual and compelling, and his ideas for change are stunning. From NGOs and the UN to individual initiatives this book is very down to earth and pragmatic about change. Unlike most studies in ecology, economics, and politics, Brown doesn't limit himself to one aspect of the discussion. You get the facts, a comprehensive vision, and the concrete steps required to bring that vision into existence. This is a must read for anybody interested in environmentalism, economics, futurism, or governmental policy in general. The Washington Post nailed it on the head when they described Brown as "One of the world's most influential thinkers." Read this book, and see the world through this remarkable thinker's eyes.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Start
Review: Lester Brown surely deserves the accolade on the cover of this book proclaiming that he's one of the world's great thinkers. As head of the Earth Policy Institute, he definitely knows what he's talking about. He even has real experience in ecological economics, being directly involved in a plan to save India from a massive famine in the 1960's. The focus of this book is the failure of current economic theories in assessing true environmental costs. Modern theory assumes that the environment is an unlimited store of raw materials with no costs. Corporations make the profits from resource extraction while having no regard for the costs, which are usually inflicted on local people who have to deal with damaged ecosystems. Meanwhile government subsidies encourage a wide range of destructive practices, usually in misguided attempts to create jobs. For example, subsidizing so many fishermen to create small business, which leads to overfishing. The first part of this book is a little predictable with a long list of environmental tragedies, and the accompanying repetitive statistics, but the point is we can no longer deny that the current economic system directly results in the heedless destruction of the earth's ecosystems. Brown then proceeds to a solid study of the ways to overhaul economic theory to accurately reflect costs to the environment. And this is not just wishful thinking, but real theory backed up with statistics. The most beneficial programs would not be the prohibition of certain activities and products, but the use of tax breaks and more appropriate subsidies to encourage ecological behavior through free market activity. An example is a tax on virgin paper that reflects its real costs (including the loss of all the benefits of a functioning forest ecosystem), and a break on recycled paper. Brown gives numerous examples of isolated programs that have led to great success in certain countries, usually in Europe and Japan, but also in some surprising countries in the developing world like Brazil or Thailand. While Brown's economic theory is solid and backed by sufficient evidence, the only thing missing from this book is more focus on political realities. While citizens and even visionary corporations can help bring about the new eco-economy, there will be real trouble with reactionary politicians who are afraid of change, and lobbyists who throw money around to preserve the status quo. Brown focuses on this problem a little, but more strategies for this problem are necessary. Perhaps that can be the subject of Brown's next book, which would then provide a powerful one-two punch in combination with this one. As the drive for a better environmental future penetrates international politics more and more, this book will be a classic for policy makers and concerned citizens alike.
Rating:
Summary: A convincing vision of a sustainable society
Review: Lester Brown, Chairman of the Worldwatch Institute, which is known for the high quality of its reports, presents his vision of an environmentally sustainable economy - an eco-economy. The purpose of his book is to show that we have no alternative to restructuring the economy if we want economic progress, to describe with some degree of confidence what the eco-economy will look like and to outline a strategy of how to get there in the time available. After cataloguing the grim decline in the planet's ability to carry on with business as usual, and pointing out that mismanagement is destroying forests, rangelands, fisheries and croplands, - the four eco-systems that supply our food and, except for minerals, all our raw materials - Eco-Economy provides hope that the solutions are within our reach, affordable and can lead to new employment opportunities and a higher standard of living. An economy is sustainable only if it respects the principles of ecology; if it does not, it will decline and eventually collapse; there is no middle ground. Relying on distorted market signals to guide investment decisions is a recipe for disaster. We need a change in mind set similar to that when our ancestors accepted that the earth revolves around the sun. Twenty five years ago the concept of environmentally sustainable development - restoring carbon balances, stabilizing population and water tables, conserving forests, soils and plant/animal diversity - was introduced but not one country is progressing satisfactorily on all fronts. Nonetheless glimpses of the eco-economy are visible. Many countries have stabilized their population - the first requirement for a sustainable future, - banned construction of coal-fired power plants or nonrefillable beverage containers, reforested, and encouraged use of bicycles. These are all facets of building a sustainable economy in marked contrast to the fossil-fuel-based, automobile-centered, throwaway economy of today. Perhaps the most profound change will occur in the energy field where wind-generated energy at a cost as low as four cents per watt is likely to be a major source of energy for the foreseeable future. By electrolyzing water to produce hydrogen during slack times we have the means of storing wind energy and, in due course, of transporting it through defunct oil and gas pipe lines. Use of natural gas will keep expanding for the present as it is an ideal fuel for the transition from a carbon-based economy to one based on hydrogen. Together, electricity and hydrogen can meet all the needs of a modern society. Other renewable sources of energy will play a lesser role. During the 1990s photovoltaic sales increased by an average of 20% per year, climbing by 43% in 2000, while the capacity of geothermal increased by 4% and hydro by 2%. Energy conservation and efficiency is still the best investment we can make with such items as compact fluorescent lamps having a very rapid pay back. The United States could meet the Kyoto protocol by 2010 simply by moving to Europe's energy efficiency levels, which in turn are not yet taking full advantage of the state of the art technologies. The second major change will occur in materials handling. Failure to adopt a comprehensive recycling program has resulted in removing New York City's 12,000 ton daily output of garbage in a fleet of vehicles 15 km long, on the 900 km round trip. A simple measure like recycling paper would shorten the convoy by 4.5kms. Metals are a major problem as their mining and processing are environmentally destructive and energy intensive. Redesigning the materials economy to be compatible with the eco-system includes such measures as easy disassembly for recycling, reducing waste generation, banning throw away beverage containers, improved methods of manufacturing, clustering factories so that waste from one acts as an input to another, legislation requiring a minimum percentage of recycled material and setting a zero emissions goal. Most worrying of all is China's rapid rise in standard of living and the world's inability to support a western standard of living with a western way of doing business. As an example if annual paper use in China were to rise to US levels, it would need more paper than the world currently produces. Mr. Brown describes ways to do the same job using far less raw material. In similar fashion the book deals with agriculture and food, forest products, cities, population stabilization, and leadership. This book has helped me in two ways. First, I lacked a grand and convincing vision of what a sustainable society might look like and the second was that in a period of such rapid change I feared that an investment today might turn out to be a white elephant tomorrow. I believe that the future painted by Lester Brown is not only possible but is almost bound to happen if each of us do our part, as much is already being put in place. I can adopt his vision as my vision feeling much more confident in my actions and that I can leave a better world to my children and grandchildren. In Bangkok one evening at 9pm all television stations focused on a huge electricity meter while the announcer asked everyone to switch off unnecessary lights and electrical appliances. Everyone was amazed to see the meter wind down enough to switch out two power stations. We have to remember that building a sustainable economy requires both major structural changes in addition to billions of small actions world wide.
Rating:
Summary: turning ecological economics into policy!
Review: Lester Brown, the visionary behind the Worldwatch Institute, has decided to focus his energy on greening economic policy. If you have ever read anything by Brown, you know exactly what to expect -- the inimitable blend of vision, statistics, practical details and policy proposals. I find it amazing, given his topic, that there are near zero citations to even the most influential of the ecological economists (one reference each to Herman Daly and Robert Costanza). But Brown is a pragmatist, not a theorist, and I hope he can both popularize the approach and impact policy in a way that academics typically don't. The proposals, such as tax shifting, are not new, but face an uphill battle to implement in the U.S. -- some of these ideas are already in the policy mix in Europe. "Eco-economy" is the latest installment of the Book that Brown has been writing and re-writing since the late 1970s, and it is as timely as ever -- REQUIRED READING! (and check out the website of his new Earth Policy Institute...)
Rating:
Summary: Essential Reading
Review: Reading through Eco-Economy, I found the author's ideas informative and exciting. Here is a book that doesn't just cry out that we're destroying our planet, it describes logical and effective methods to turn the tide. He doesn't demand countless restrictions on industry. Instead, he argues that the economy will cease being the environmentally destructive force it has become if it simply took into account the ecology from which all economic resources come from. As ecological resources dwindle, so will the economy. Taking that loss into account is the core of what this book is about.
Rating:
Summary: No-Nonsense Approach to a Very Serious Issue
Review: The book deserves every single star rating it has. It's well redacted, the ideas are well put by the author, and it's easily accesible for those who don't have a science/environment/economics background. All the ideas and conclusions are superbly supported, and the book leads the reader to unavoidable conclusions about what to do with our environment. This book's is so relvant to today's economy/ecology, then the author goes further and puts forth a workable framework to both, save the economy and humnaity. Very good book indeed.
Rating:
Summary: essential reading
Review: The dominant worldview today is one where the environment is merely a subset of the economy. In Eco-Economy Lester Brown forcefully argues the case for a new worldview; the need for an eco-economy. The opening chapters of Eco-Economy make sombre reading. Lester Brown draws on his vast knowledge and experience to explain that nearly every area of human activity is at or above ecologically sustainable limits. If China were to consume as much fish per capita as Japan it would consume the world's entire catch. If every Chinese home had one or two cars in the garage like the US China would need more oil than the world currently produces. In order to meet the expanding demand for food China has ploughed and overgrazed areas in its northwest creating some of the largest dust storms ever recorded. The water table under the North China Plain which produces 25 percent of China's grain is falling at a rate of 1.5 metres per year. However, the problem of overpumping aquifiers is not confined to China. This problem is also impacting on agricultural production in India, the US and elsewhere. The bad news continues: the world's forests are shrinking by 9 million hectares per year (an area the size of Portugal); two thirds of oceanic fisheries are being fished at or above their sustainable yield; and increasing atmospheric CO2 levels are driving an increase in global temperatures. If the opening chapters of this book cannot convince the reader of the need for an eco-economy nothing will. Lester Brown uses the rest of the book to identify the characteristics of an eco-economy and detail a path for getting there. Some countries have already adopted elements of an eco-economy. Many European countries and Japan have stabilised their populations and China is moving toward population stability. Denmark generates 15 percent of its electricity from wind power. The eco-economy that Lester Brown envisages runs on hydrogen instead of oil and its cities are designed for people (and bicycles) not cars. Wind turbine engineers, bicycle mechanics and and family planning midwives will be the growth areas of employment in the new economy. The main elements of the path to an eco-economy are stabilising population, restructuring the economy--mainly via subsidies and tax shifting, and greater leadership and responsibility from all sectors of society. The final question Lester Brown asks is "Is there enough time?" It is already too late to save the Aral Sea, but there is still time if we move quickly. What is needed is a "war effort" where understanding the magnitude of the threat faced leads to rapid action being taken. What is needed is a a world that reacts as swiftly to rising CO2 emmissions as it does to rising interest rates. Lester Brown's vision for an eco-economy is not so much a radical one as a necessary one. Anything less than the action he proposes will result in future disaster on a global scale. It is something that can be achieved within the existing political frameworks creating a potentially wide audience for this book. As such it makes important reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Crying wolf...
Review: The idea that our economic model is damaging to the environment is nothing new. Whatever Brown thinks, we cannot turn around the economy completely. Of course we have to take into account environmental damage, and this is being done gradually. Remember when the Club of Rome cried wolf. Our current economic system is not unsustainable, but it does require some smart actions to curtail pollution, excessive logging, etc..
Lester Brown and the Worldwatch Institute have made terrible suggestions before, so you have to be careful with what he implies.
Rating:
Summary: Crying wolf...
Review: The idea that our economic model is damaging to the environment is nothing new. Whatever Brown thinks, we cannot turn around the economy completely. Of course we have to take into account environmental damage, and this is being done gradually. Remember when the Club of Rome cried wolf. Our current economic system is not unsustainable, but it does require some smart actions to curtail pollution, excessive logging, etc..
Lester Brown and the Worldwatch Institute have made terrible suggestions before, so you have to be careful with what he implies.
Rating:
Summary: A Critical Diagnosis, A Practical Proposal
Review: This book should be required reading for every member of Congress and anyone who has responsibility for economic and/or environmental policy in the administration of George Bush. I'm glad that it is being widely translated and made available elsewhere throughout the world. It calls for a necessary paradigm shift in the ways that we think about the future of the planet economically and environmentally. Richly documented and persuasively argued, it makes palpably clear that the current world economy is environmentally unsustainable, and charts the way to a viable alternative. "One way or another," Brown concludes, "the choice will be made by our generation. But it will affect life on earth for all generations to come." Please read this book, and send it to those who can help make that choice.
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