Latest comments posted about Books: saving the planet while we still can on ChinaDialogue en-gb http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/1946-Books-saving-the-planet-while-we-still-can http://staging.chinadialogue.net/images/cdlogo.gif http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/1946-Books-saving-the-planet-while-we-still-can Lester Brown is right that major global goals are tied together and must all be solved. However the focus on individual and national action is defeatist. Global goals can hopefully still all be achieved but action is needed at all levels. It's no good ignoring the need for global action on global problems. I like Brown's prescription for a sustainable economy but there is a curious focus on telling us the right technical choices as if there was no such thing as an economy at all and decisions are not directed by prices. Today's economics is like a machine that can only eat up the planet. There's no way to save civilisation until the machinery of economics is repaired. This is not difficult to do but it can't be done with taxes or other conventional fixes. Global problems can be solved fast if people are willing to consider fairly simple economic tools that would make it possible for people and the planet to live cooperatively. Two such tools (precycling insurance and Gross Peaceful Product) are being published by the NATO Science Programme. For an introduction please see the climate briefing at http://www.climateneutral.unep.org/cnn_members.aspx?m=195 James Greyson BlindSpot Tue, 06 May 2008 08:21:13 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1946#comment-7340 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1946#comment-7340