The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices

The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices PDF Author: Michael Brower
Publisher: Harmony
ISBN: 0307427021
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
From one of the most prestigious nonprofit organizations devoted to environmental issues comes a clear, practical, and rational overview of the relationship between consumers and the environment. Paper or plastic? Bus or car? Old house or new? Cloth diapers or disposables? Some choices have a huge impact on the environment; others are of negligible importance. To those of us who care about our quality of life and what is happening to the earth, this is a vastly important issue. In these pages, the Union of Concerned Scientists help inform consumers about everyday decisions that significantly affect the environment. For example, a few major decisions--such as the choice of a house or vehicle--have such a disproportionately large affect on the environment that minor environmental infractions shrink by comparison. This book identifies the 4 Most Significant Consumer-Related Environmental Problems, the 7 Most Damaging Spending Categories, 11 Priority Actions, and 7 Rules for Responsible Consumption. Learn what you can do to have a truly significant impact on our world from the people who are at the forefront of scientific research.

The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices

The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices PDF Author: Michael Brower
Publisher: Harmony
ISBN: 0307427021
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Get Book Here

Book Description
From one of the most prestigious nonprofit organizations devoted to environmental issues comes a clear, practical, and rational overview of the relationship between consumers and the environment. Paper or plastic? Bus or car? Old house or new? Cloth diapers or disposables? Some choices have a huge impact on the environment; others are of negligible importance. To those of us who care about our quality of life and what is happening to the earth, this is a vastly important issue. In these pages, the Union of Concerned Scientists help inform consumers about everyday decisions that significantly affect the environment. For example, a few major decisions--such as the choice of a house or vehicle--have such a disproportionately large affect on the environment that minor environmental infractions shrink by comparison. This book identifies the 4 Most Significant Consumer-Related Environmental Problems, the 7 Most Damaging Spending Categories, 11 Priority Actions, and 7 Rules for Responsible Consumption. Learn what you can do to have a truly significant impact on our world from the people who are at the forefront of scientific research.

Environmental Choices

Environmental Choices PDF Author: Lawrence S. Rothenberg
Publisher: CQ Press
ISBN: 1483371166
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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Book Description
Within a federal system, government agencies and regulatory policies can be fractured -- even at odds with each other. National actors share power with their counterparts in states and localities, as do presidents with Congressional leaders, and bureaucrats with judges. Understanding the broad economic and political contexts of environmental policymaking illuminates the motivations behind policy choices of various interested parties, from the National Park Service and the EPA to environmental activists and members of Congress. Rothenberg utilizes basic economic ideas to provide, not only a fresh look at how the U.S. deals with environmental ills, but a way of thinking about policy making in general.

Structured Decision Making

Structured Decision Making PDF Author: Robin Gregory
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1444333410
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
This book outlines the creative process of making environmental management decisions using the approach called Structured Decision Making. It is a short introductory guide to this popular form of decision making and is aimed at environmental managers and scientists. This is a distinctly pragmatic label given to ways for helping individuals and groups think through tough multidimensional choices characterized by uncertain science, diverse stakeholders, and difficult tradeoffs. This is the everyday reality of environmental management, yet many important decisions currently are made on an ad hoc basis that lacks a solid value-based foundation, ignores key information, and results in selection of an inferior alternative. Making progress – in a way that is rigorous, inclusive, defensible and transparent – requires combining analytical methods drawn from the decision sciences and applied ecology with deliberative insights from cognitive psychology, facilitation and negotiation. The authors review key methods and discuss case-study examples based in their experiences in communities, boardrooms, and stakeholder meetings. The goal of this book is to lay out a compelling guide that will change how you think about making environmental decisions. Visit www.wiley.com/go/gregory/ to access the figures and tables from the book.

Materials and the Environment

Materials and the Environment PDF Author: M. F. Ashby
Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann
ISBN: 0123859719
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 629

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Book Description
Addressing the growing global concern for sustainable engineering, this title is devoted exclusively to the environmental aspects of materials.

Environmental Economics

Environmental Economics PDF Author: Ian Hodge
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN: 9780312126322
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
This book provides an introduction to the role of economics in debates on the environment. The authors examine the contribution of economics to an understanding of the emergence and persistence of environmental problems and focus on the basic concepts that can be applied to the evaluation of damage and assessment of policy options. Throughout the text, both the usefulness and the limits of economic techniques are explored. These are elaborated in the second part of the book through a number of case studies on environmental issues, both local and global.

America's Climate Choices

America's Climate Choices PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309145856
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 134

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Book Description
Climate change is occurring. It is very likely caused by the emission of greenhouse gases from human activities, and poses significant risks for a range of human and natural systems. And these emissions continue to increase, which will result in further change and greater risks. America's Climate Choices makes the case that the environmental, economic, and humanitarian risks posed by climate change indicate a pressing need for substantial action now to limit the magnitude of climate change and to prepare for adapting to its impacts. Although there is some uncertainty about future risk, acting now will reduce the risks posed by climate change and the pressure to make larger, more rapid, and potentially more expensive reductions later. Most actions taken to reduce vulnerability to climate change impacts are common sense investments that will offer protection against natural climate variations and extreme events. In addition, crucial investment decisions made now about equipment and infrastructure can "lock in" commitments to greenhouse gas emissions for decades to come. Finally, while it may be possible to scale back or reverse many responses to climate change, it is difficult or impossible to "undo" climate change, once manifested. Current efforts of local, state, and private-sector actors are important, but not likely to yield progress comparable to what could be achieved with the addition of strong federal policies that establish coherent national goals and incentives, and that promote strong U.S. engagement in international-level response efforts. The inherent complexities and uncertainties of climate change are best met by applying an iterative risk management framework and making efforts to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions; prepare for adapting to impacts; invest in scientific research, technology development, and information systems; and facilitate engagement between scientific and technical experts and the many types of stakeholders making America's climate choices.

Free-Choice Learning and the Environment

Free-Choice Learning and the Environment PDF Author: John H. Falk
Publisher: Rowman Altamira
ISBN: 0759113335
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
Most environmental learning takes place outside of the formal education system, but our understanding of how this learning actually occurs is in its infancy. By surfing the internet, watching nature documentaries, and visiting parks, forests, marine sanctuaries, and zoos, people make active choices to learn about various aspects of their environment every day. Free-Choice Learning and the Environment explores the theoretical foundations of free-choice environmental education, the practical implications for applying theory to the education of learners of all ages, and the policy implications for creating new and sustainable environmental education opportunities.

Energy Choices

Energy Choices PDF Author: Robin Morris Collin
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 449

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Book Description
A must-read for anyone seeking to understand the complex issues surrounding energy generation and use, this one-of-a-kind resource clarifies everything from the basic structure of the industry to the potential—and risks—of new technologies. Energy is a critical public concern in the 21st century, spurring demand for reliable, easy-to-understand information on subjects as varied as the drivers of prices, the potential for new technologies, the implications of a more diverse energy-supply portfolio, and the way government policies affect the energy marketplace. All of those issues and more are covered in this unique, two-volume compendium. Traditional energy sources such as oil, coal, and natural gas are explored in volume one and new and emerging energy sources are addressed in volume two. Each chapter provides a brief history of the energy source, describes how it functions, and examines market issues, government regulations, and environmental and community impacts. The work discusses energy security and energy independence, efficiency standards, and carbon policy as well as consumer-focused technologies such as energy storage options, smart appliances and homes, and electric cars. Readers will come away from this guide with an understanding of the energy industry and an appreciation of the ways government, industry, and society can manage both risks and benefits.

Planning for the Planet

Planning for the Planet PDF Author: Simone Schleper
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 178920299X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
During the 1960s and 1970s, rapidly growing environmental awareness and concern created unprecedented demand for ecological expertise and novel challenges for ecological advocacy groups such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). This book reveals how, despite their vast scientific knowledge and their attempts to incorporate socially relevant themes, IUCN experts inevitably struggled to make global schemes for nature conservation a central concern for UNESCO, UNEP and other intergovernmental organizations.

Voting Green

Voting Green PDF Author: Jeremy Rifkin
Publisher: Main Street Books
ISBN: 9780385419178
Category : Elections
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
A voting guide to making the most informed and meaningful environmental decision; includes a comprehensive congressional report card on Green issues.