Booksellers & Librarians | Caravan Books | Catalog | Educators

Environmentalism and the Technologies of Tomorrow

Shaping The Next Industrial Revolution

Robert Olson, David Rejeski

Environmentalism and the Technologies of Tomorrow

Published: 11/05/2004
Publisher: Island Press
208 p. 6 x 9
Figures. 4 boxes.
Index.
ISBN: 9781559637695
Paperback: $24.96

Also Available: Hardcover

Biographies | Quotes | Table Of Contents

Environmentalism and the Technologies of Tomorrow: Shaping the Next Industrial Revolution

We sit at the doorstep of multiple revolutions in robotic, genetic, information, and communication technologies, whose powerful interactions promise social and environmental transformations we are only beginning to understand. How can we anticipate their impacts and ensure that these new technologies help move us in a more sustainable direction?

Environmentalism and the Technologies of Tomorrow is a collection of essays by leading scientists, technologists, and thinkers that examine the nature of current technological changes, their environmental implications, and possible strategies for the transition to a sustainable future. It offers a baseline understanding of new technological developments, as well as important insights for moving beyond business-as-usual by developing more anticipatory approaches to environmental protection and more comprehensive strategies for promoting the transformation of technology.

Among the contributors are Brad Allenby, David Bell, Steward Brand, Michael Braungart, Lester Brown, Joanne Ciulla, Denis Hayes, Hazel Henderson, Amory Lovins, William McDonough, Gary Marchant, David Ronfeldt, John Seely-Brown, Gus Speth, and Timothy Sturgeon.

The Editors

ROBERT OLSON is a senior fellow at the Institute for Alternative Futures.

DAVID REJESKI is director of the Foresight and Governance Project at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Also of interest from Island Press:

The Hype About Hydrogen
Living with the Genie
Against the Machine
Conservation in the Internet Age

Biographies

ROBERT OLSON is a senior fellow at the Institute for Alternative Futures.

DAVID REJESKI is director of the Foresight and Governance Project at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Quotes

"Environmentalism and the Technologies of Tomorrow clearly defines the central questions for environmental law and policy today: what kind of governance systems will it take to accelerate broad adoption of green technologies and to anticipate and shape the impact of new discoveries? And will we muster the political will to set aggressive goals and the imagination to conceive and try new approaches? The authors challenge environmentalists to think big." --Leslie Carothers

"? a fascinating survey of our future. From nanotechnology to genetics to distributed networks it reveals enormous opportunities to improve our quality of life, while emphasizing the need to act strategically now in the face of accelerating change. With essays by some of the globe's most innovative thinkers, this book helps us imagine and prepare for a world where humans and the natural world can prosper together." --Fred Krupp

"This compact volume is a highly credible account of a centerpiece struggle for humanity in the 21st century: how to enable a "standard of living" without sacrificing "quality of life" for us and future generations. ? Kudos to the authors and editors for bringing the chapters to us in cogent, but bite-sized, pieces." --Jack Gibbons

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Another Chances

Part I. The Goal: A
Transition to Sustainability

1. Creating a Sustainable Future: Are We Running out of Time?

2. An Eco-Economy in Harmony with Nature

3. A New Age of Resource Productivity

Part II. New Technologies

4. Environmental Implications of Emerging Nanotechnologies

5. Ecological Computing

6. Genetics and the Future of Environmental Policy

7. The Future of Manufacturing: The Implications of Global Production
for Environmental Policy and Activism

8. Engineering the Earth

Part II. New Governance

9. A Long Look Ahead: NGOs, Networks, and Future Social Evolution

10. Environmental Leadership in Government

11. Time Matters

12. The Guardian Reborn: A New Government Role in Environmental
Protection

13. Advancing Corporate Sustainability: A Critical New Role for
Government

14. Government in the Chrysalis Economy

15. Is Free Trade Too Costly?

16. Greening te Global Financial System

17. The Challenge Ahead

About the Authors

Index

Island Blogs

Terry Tamminen on ?The Carbon Cops?

Writing on his Fast Company blog, Lives Per Gallon author Terry Tamminen writes: Last week, the Securities and...
Full Blog Post >

Upcoming Events