Suchergebnisse

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Prologue: A Wilderness Trail to an Economic Tale -- 1. Economic Growth as a National Goal -- 2. What Did Jack Kemp Really Say? -- 3. What Will They Think of Next, and Why? -- 4. Simon Said -- 5. Copernicus, Are You Out There? -- 6. The Steady State Revolution: Precepts and Terminology -- 7. Relations with the Liquidating Class -- 8. Relations with the Steady State Class -- 9. Relations with the Amorphic Class -- 10. Exemplary Steady Statism -- Conclusion: Laying New Tracks -- References -- Index

Species conservation via the Endangered Species Act is highly politicized, yet few data have been gathered to illustrate the relationship of political party affiliation to species conservation perspectives. We conducted a nationwide public opinion survey and found that Democrats value species conservation more highly than do Republicans, and that Democrats are also more strongly supportive of the Endangered Species Act. Republicans place higher value on property rights than do Democrats, but members of both parties value economic growth as highly as wildlife conservation. The results imply that the Democratic propensity to value species conservation reflects a biocentric perspective that does not bode well for practical conservation efforts. Species conservation will depend upon the success of academicians and progressive political leaders in educating students and members of all parties about the fundamental conflict between economic growth and wildlife conservation.

The proposed book focuses on one of the most important issues affecting humankind in this century - Peak Oil or the declining availability of abundant, cheap energy-and its effects on our industrialized economy and wildlife conservation. Energy will be one of the defining issues of the 21st Century directly affecting wildlife conservation wherever energy extraction is a primary economic activity and indirectly through deepening economic recessions. Since cheap, abundant energy has been at the core of our industrial society, and has resulted in the technological advancements we enjoy today, the peak in world oil extraction would potentially have major impacts on civilization unless we prepare well in advance. One potential economic solution covered in the book would be a Steady State Economy with a stable population and per capita consumption, particularly in such industrialized countries as the United States. Furthermore, the lack of cheap, abundant energy directly and indirectly affects conservation efforts by professional societies and federal and state agencies, and NGOs concerned with wildlife issues. We need to recognize these potential problems and prepare, as much as possible, for the consequences stemming from them.

Today, there are numerous books available on the subject of Peak Oil; however, most, if not all, address the consequences of peaking on our industrialized society and how we might adapt. There also are several excellent books available dealing with economic growth. Books on wildlife conservation are also commonplace. However, no book currently integrates the topics of Peak Oil, economic growth, and wildlife conservation into one narrative. This book attempts to do just that. The book is divided into four sections, respectively titled The Energy Dilemma, Economic Considerations, Fundamental Conflicts, and Wildlife Conservation and the Future. Each succeeding section builds on those that come before it. Readers of this book will gain a deeper understanding of the vital linkages between energy, economic growth, and the conservation of natural landscapes and native species. This book is written for a broad audience, including natural resources professionals, planners, and policy-makers in federal, state, and provincial governments. Leaders of conservation and environmental organizations will value its clarion call for action to stem further losses of biodiversity (including genetic diversity) and advance its conservation. Professors teaching university courses in wildlife ecology and management, conservation biology, and ecological economics will find this volume to be an indispensable course book for their students. Others will use it as a primary reference for seminars dealing with sustainability. Persons interested in Peak Oil and energy depletion will learn how these issues impinge on wildlife conservation. Those interested in alternatives to a growth economy will find the discussion of a steady state economy enlightening, given that lack of cheap, abundant energy may force us in that direction anyway. It is our hope that readers of this book will act on the information contained in it to effect positive change in how our global civilization interacts with the biosphere and humanity?s co-inhabitants?the millions of species composing Earth?s biodiversity.

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