The Ecologist articles from July 1997

The Ecologist archives from July 1997

The erosion of democracy in the UK. (lack of accountability and transfer of power from local councils to central governments contribute to ineffectual governance in UK)(Editorial)
July 1, 1997... In September 1996, just before the start of the last parliamentary session before the General Election in the UK, the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust published its annual State of the Nation opinion poll. The results showed that public...

Editorials. (questioning the basic assumptions that underlie common disciplines)(Editorial)(Cover Story)
July 1, 1997... As our readers have probably gathered, the team that has edited The Ecologist since 1991 (Nick Hildyard, Sarah Sexton, Tracey Clunies-Ross and Larry Lohmann) has decided to leave in order to devote more time to the institute that its members...

2001: entering the era of radioactive consumerism. (implications of the Euratom 96/29 Directive)
July 1, 1997... The year is 2001. You are driving to work in your car, having just had a pleasant breakfast and a good night's sleep. You pass your friend who is going to work on her bicycle. You think her stylish pollution filter mask is very fetching and...

"Sustainable" incineration and death by dioxin. (dangers of building waste-to-energy incinerators in UK cities)
July 1, 1997... People living within one kilometre of municipal waste incinerators are reported to be suffering significant increases in all cancers, including a 37 per cent increase in liver cancers. Despite these horrific findings, the British government...

The WTO's record so far - corporations: 3 / humanity and the environment: 0. (World Trade Organization favor transnational corporations)
July 1, 1997... If anyone was in any doubt as to the true nature of the World Trade Organization, its actions in the three years since it was created paint a depressingly clear picture. As feared, in every case brought before it to date, the WTO has ruled in...

Why transnational corporations are organizing to "save the global environment." (transnationals promote sustainable development under the guise of environmental sensitivity)(Transcript)
July 1, 1997... Introduction Transnational corporations, that have so far been responsible for much of the terrible environmental destruction of recent years, are now insisting that they have turned over a new leaf and are to become the guardians of what...

The Americanization of Canadian education. (implications of Canada-US Free Trade Agreement and the North American Free Trade Agreement on Canadian education)
July 1, 1997... During the last decade, Canada has fundamentally realigned its orientation from east-west to north-south, in essence becoming part of a new borderless North American economy. The resulting harmonization can be seen everywhere. Big business'...

From reductionism to holism in ecology and deep ecology.
July 1, 1997... In this article, I will turn a critical eye on ecology and on the beliefs of some of its practitioners, thereby illuminating several dubious aspects of Deep Ecological Philosophy. For example, from the perspective of ecology, how are we to...

The unholy alliance. (dangers of genetic engineering in biotechnology)
July 1, 1997... Suddenly, the brave new world dawns. Suddenly, as 1997 begins and the millennium is drawing to a close, men and women in the street are waking up to the realization that genetic engineering biotechnology is taking over every aspect of their...

Earth for Sale: Reclaiming Ecology in the Age of Corporate Greenwash.
July 1, 1997... Our local grade school puts out a monthly publication to let town residents know what's happening with the town's children who attend the school. A recent issue was dedicated to Earth Day in which students wrote about the environment and what...

The Road Ahead.
July 1, 1997... Take a deep breath and a stiff drink before daring to enter Microsoft Bill's nightmarish vision of a technological future. If Gates's virtual utopia is to become a reality, assuming it's possible, then we can bid farewell to any hope as a...

Alternatives to Global Capitalism.
July 1, 1997... The writing of this book was driven by two events: the 50th anniversary of the Bretton Woods conference which did so much to create today's world order, and the second Ecumenical Assembly of European Churches, which has just taken place in...

Free to be Human: Intellectual Self-Defence in an Age of Illusions.
July 1, 1997... This is the cri de coeur of a young man (he was no more than 33 when the book was published) who has suddenly discovered that the world is utterly corrupt, that most of the things he had been taught at school and university, through reading the...