[unrev-II] Natural Capitalism -- the book

From: Jack Park (jackpark@thinkalong.com)
Date: Mon Apr 09 2001 - 16:22:08 PDT

  • Next message: N. C a r r o l l: "[unrev-II] Whoda thunk it?"

    The book _Natural Capitalism: Creating the next Industrial Revolution_ has
    its own web site http://www.naturalcapitalism.org/
    <http://www.naturalcapitalism.org/>
    complete with online forum, reviews, downloadable chapters and so forth.

    From chapter 1:
    "Imagine for a moment a world where cities have become peaceful and serene
    because cars and buses are whisper quiet, vehicles exhaust only water vapor,
    and parks and greenways have replaced unneeded urban freeways. OPEC has
    ceased to function because the price of oil has fallen to five dollars a
    barrel, but there are few buyers for it because cheaper and better ways now
    exist to get the services people once turned to oil to provide. Living
    standards for all people have dramatically improved, particularly for the
    poor and those in developing countries. Involuntary unemployment no longer
    exists, and income taxes have largely been eliminated. Houses, even
    low-income housing units, can pay part of their mortgage costs by the energy
    they produce; there are few if any active landfills; worldwide forest cover
    is increasing; dams are being dismantled; atmospheric C02 levels are
    decreasing for the first time in two hundred years; and effluent water
    leaving factories is cleaner than the water coming into them. Industrialized
    countries have reduced resource use by 80 percent while improving the
    quality of life. Among these technological changes, there are important
    social changes. The frayed social nets of Western countries have been
    repaired. With the explosion of family-wage jobs, welfare demand has fallen.
    A progressive and active union movement has taken the lead to work with
    business, environmentalists, and government to create "just transitions" for
    workers as society phases out coal, nuclear energy, and oil. In communities
    and towns, churches, corporations, and labor groups promote a new
    living-wage social contract as the least expensive way to ensure the growth
    and preservation of valuable social capital. Is this the vision of a utopia?
    In fact, the changes described here could come about in the decades to come
    as the result of economic and technological trends already in place.

    This book is about these and many other possibilities. "

    An early incarnation of the book, in the form of a Mother Jones article is
    at http://bsd.mojones.com/mother_jones/MA97/hawken.
    <http://bsd.mojones.com/mother_jones/MA97/hawken.html> html
    <http://bsd.mojones.com/mother_jones/MA97/hawken.html>

    ============================================================================
    This message is intended only for the use of the Addressee(s) and may
    contain information that is PRIVILEGED and CONFIDENTIAL. If you are not
    the intended recipient, dissemination of this communication is prohibited.
    If you have received this communication in error, please erase all copies
    of the message and its attachments and notify postmaster@verticalnet.com
    immediately.
    ============================================================================

    ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-~>
    Do you have 128-bit SSL encryption server security?
    Get VeriSign's FREE Guide, "Securing Your
    Web Site for Business." Get it now!
    http://us.click.yahoo.com/EVNB7A/c.WCAA/bT0EAA/IaAVlB/TM
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------_->

    Community email addresses:
      Post message: unrev-II@onelist.com
      Subscribe: unrev-II-subscribe@onelist.com
      Unsubscribe: unrev-II-unsubscribe@onelist.com
      List owner: unrev-II-owner@onelist.com

    Shortcut URL to this page:
      http://www.onelist.com/community/unrev-II

    Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/



    This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Apr 09 2001 - 16:34:49 PDT