Alternatives articles from January 1995

Alternatives archives from January 1995

The market, the environment and social justice. (Editorial)
January 1, 1995... Economics is the academic discipline most environmentalists love to hate. Historically, there have been some good reasons for this. Many economists have insisted on the misapplication of cost-benefit analysis to environmental protection policies,...

Garden party. (satire on backyard gardening) (Column)
January 1, 1995... Last summer a garden grew in my backyard. I am aware that the common expression is "I grew a garden in my backyard," but that would imply that I actually had something to do with the process. The fact is, I made about as much of a contribution to...

Ontario considers tough standard for tritium in drinking water.
January 1, 1995... The Ontario government is wrestling with an advisory body's unexpected recommendation to make the province's drinking water standard for tritium 400 times more stringent than the current standard. Tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen, is a...

Research indicates Southern Ontario under earthquake risk.
January 1, 1995... A group of Canadian researchers believes that bedrock fault-lines extend into Southern Ontario and that geologists have underestimated the region's earthquake risk. The possibility of future earthquakes has implications both for control of toxic...

Broad patents on basic crops cause alarm. (transgenic crop patents)
January 1, 1995... The issue of patents on crops of vital global importance is alarming observers in Canada and abroad. Early in the year, sweeping "species" patents were issued for "transgenic" soybean and cotton. An additional patent involving rice is expected....

Equity and the environment: social justice today as a prerequisite for sustainability in the future. (includes related article on Los Angeles, California's Labor Community Watchdog group) (Cover Story)
January 1, 1995... In recent years the worldwide environmental movement has successfully introduced the goal of "sustainable development" into national and international policy debates. In so doing, it has drawn attention to the issue of intergenerational equity....

The social cost of sustainability: distribution and equity in environmental policy. (includes related article) (Cover Story)
January 1, 1995... While there is widespread agreement on the need to address environmental degradation and integrate sustainability into environmental and resource policies, little attention has been paid, in Canada, to how the costs and benefits of conservation...

Under pressure: distributive ideals in the market. (includes related articles) (Cover Story)
January 1, 1995... Images of the market in economic and political theories are generally acknowledged to be idealizations. Such images employ assumptions about the behaviour of institutions and people that correspond imperfectly at best to the real world. Despite...

The Uncertain Promise of Law: Lessons from Bhopal.
January 1, 1995... Chernobyl, Seveso, Bhopal. These names are synonymous for industrial accidents with devastating effects and global implications. They raise questions about how best to compensate victims of toxic accidents and how to prevent their re-occurrence....

Global Accord: Environmental Challenges and International Responses.
January 1, 1995... The first in a series on Global Environmental Accords published by MIT Press, this edited collection of 15 essays seeks to articulate a holistic, integrated social science framework for analyzing global environmental relations. The impetus for...

From Land to Mouth: Understanding the Food System (Second Helping).
January 1, 1995... This is the second edition of a book that undertakes to explain the food system. Brewster Kneen is more than ever convinced "that we have to grasp and invert its logic." In fact, he shows effectively that the way we feed ourselves as a society is...

Touch Wood: BC Forests at the Crossroads.
January 1, 1995... With the Clayoquot Sound controversy once again vaulting BC forest policy into the international spotlight, Touch Wood: BC Forests at the Crossroads is a timely collection of seven essays covering the major issues, principal players, and...

Germany, Garbage, and the Green Dot: Challenging the Throwaway Society.
January 1, 1995... Almost every country is experiencing problems from too much waste -- much of which is packaging. Germany decided to address this problem head-on with its 1991 "Ordinance on the Avoidance of Packaging Waste," based on the polluter pays principle....

Parks and Protected Areas in Canada: Planning and Management.
January 1, 1995... Parks and Protected Areas in Canada is, in one sense, an alarm to wake up our collective environmental conscience. It is also an excellent introductory text to protected areas in Canada. Editors Philip Dearden and Rick Rollins provide a brief...

Regarding Nature: Industrialism and Deep Ecology.
January 1, 1995... Regarding Nature argues that industrialism is the root cause of our present ecological crisis and it seeks, through a partly social and primarily deep ecological ethic, to provide a vision of a more balanced relationship between humans and the...

Interpreting Nature: Cultural Constructions of the Environment.
January 1, 1995... The natural sciences and "resource managers" have dominated and shaped modern and Western narratives of this thing called "environment." Ian Simmons' book attempts to break away from these dominant and unidimensional narratives and offer a...

Foggy weather, clear logic. (British Columbia sawmill operators' views on timber harvesting) (Column)
January 1, 1995... I am a consumer of the old growth British Columbia forests. I build wooden boats, restore antique wooden airplanes and build the occasional piece of furniture for loved ones or those willing to pay a hefty price. The few truckloads of spruce, fir...