Notes on Speth's Red Sky At Morning

Michelle ReillyNotes: “Red Sky at Morning” James Gustave Speth

Part I: A World of Wounds

(13-22) The nature of Speth’s “New Reality” 1. 20th century growth – benefits in health, education and standards of living, purchased

at a huge cost to the environment 2. Human enterprise on a planetary scale

o nature no longer independent of human beings 3. World economy’s forward momentum is large

o population and economic growth 4. human society is in a radically new ethical position b/c it is now at the planetary

controls (19)o “active management of the planet”o “IPAT equation” sees environmental IMPACT as a product of the size of human

POPULATIONS, our AFFLUENCE and consumption patterns, and the TECHNOLOGY we deploy to meet our perceived needs. (20)

2. Lost in Eden(25-28) Why protect biodiversity? Biodiversity and Ecosystems

o Ecosystem changeo Ecosystems are the productive engines of the planet – communities of species

that interact w/ each other and w/ the physical setting they live in … we are utterly dependent on ecosystems to sustain us. Ecosystems make the Earth habitable: purifying air and water, maintaining biodiversity, decomposing and recycling nutrients, and providing myriad other critical functions” (26)

o Best way to save biodiversity – convince people that healthy ecosystems provide societies w/ a huge array of material benefits

o Neglect of environmental education o Nutrient cyclingo 1. Our ethical responsibilitieso 2. Ecosystem serviceso people have a fundamental emotional dependence on nature and living diversity

value nature and living diversity b/c of the adaptive benefits it offered us physically, emotionally and intellectually

(30-42) Threats to biodiversity and causes of deforestation Threats to Biodiversity and Ecosystems

o Land use conversion Agricultural lands, wetlands & forests urban and suburban uses in

both industrial and developing countrieso Land degradation o Freshwater shortageso Watercourse modificationso Invasive species

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o Overharvestingo Climate change (effects of climate change on ecosystems)o Ozone depletiono Pollution o Trade offs btwn high commodity production and impaired ecosystem services

The Amazon o Social and economic forces in Brazil: tax breaks & subsidies o Uneconomical enterpriseso Illegal logging

Drivers of Deterioration o Clearing for agricultureo Large populations of the pooro Govt often encourages migrations or resettlements to relieve social tensions and

population pressures. o Forests – heavy political and economic pressures

Govts own ~80% of remaining intact forests in developing countries o Bribes and corruption – “money power and politics” o Well-intention but misguided policies

Promote agricultural development & ranching in previously forested areas w/ govt subsidies

o Expanding logging: encouraging high levels of foreign investment, weaker domestic regulation in the face of international competition and loss of local community controls

Allocate responsibility for managing and protecting forests to the local groups and communities that depend upon their healthy survival

3. Pollution and Climate Change in a Full World(44-55) Changes in pollution (its nature & origins) From Modest to Huge Quantities

o Fossil fuels: sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide emissions & carbon dioxideo World War II

From Gross Insults to Microtoxicity o Chemical & nuclear industries

WW II – new chemicals & radioactive substances Synthetic organic chemical industry

Pesticides Heavy metals

o Health effects From First World to Third World

o Industrial and energy growth have brought air pollutants to the developing world

o Lack of sewage tx From Local Effects to Global Effects

o Greenhouse gases – atmospheric issues

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Acid Rain o Water pollutiono Crop damage, forest problems

Loss of Protective Ozone o UV-B radiation

(55-62) The likely impacts of climate change Global Climate Disruption and Energy Policy

o 1997 Kyoto Protocol by 2010 reduce greenhouse gas emissions 5% below 1990 levels Bush Admin rejected

o Arctic – melting snow and iceo Pushing the planet beyond anything experienced naturally for thousands of

years (60)o US responsible for 30% greenhouse gases o Extensive biodiversity loss; extreme weather events such as extraordinary

droughts, floods, heat waves, and hurricanes; abrupt regional cooling; sea-level rise; coral bleaching; public health risks; and major new social stresses w/in and btwn countries (61)

(62-73) Changes that would lessen climate change Fuel efficiency in transportation Heating and air condition needs 1. Shift to natural gas (vs. coal or oil) 2. Renewable energy sources – wind, solar thermal, photovoltaic cells, biomass,

hydropower 3. Nuclear power carbon sequestration hydrogen-consuming fuel cells in cars Bush Admin 2003 – “Future-Gen” trying for clean coal

o America’s huge coal reserveso Political power of coal states

Regulate CO2 emissions from auto exhaust Congress – need to “cap and trade” DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL “getting smart about oil”

o boost industrial energy efficiencyo raise car and truck fuel efficiencyo nurture renewable energyo phase in fuel taxes

An Addition to the Environmental Agenda o Nitrogen

Once fixed remains active for a very long time, cascading through the biosphere

75% fertilizers 25% fossil fuel combustion

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1. set the goal of ecosystem stabilization2. search the entire production and consumption system (grain, livestock,

food distribution and diet) for opportunities to improve efficiency3. implement cap-and-trade system for fixed nitrogen4. expand research at the intersection of agriculture and ecology5. focus on the food choices of the prosperous (72)

Part Two: … And the World Responds

(79-84) The characteristics of the first environmental era (the 1970s) 4. First Attempt at Global Environmental Governance

o US first (Canada & Japan)o Local issues

Air and water pollution, strip mining, highway construction, noise pollution, damns and stream channelization, clear-cutting, hazardous waste dumps, nuclear power plants, exposure to toxic chemical, oil spills, suburban sprawl

o Grew strength throughout 60s National Environmental Policy Act in Dec 69

o Early 70s EPA & Council on Environmental Quality Major federal legislation Lawsuits from environmental advocacy organizations New groups formed

o Resistance from industryHow:1. Rising demand fro environmental amenity in increasingly affluent postwar population

a. Suburbiab. National park visitation

2. Pollution and blight were blatant and obvious to all 3. Social and antiwar movement of the 1960s had given rise to a new questioning and

politically active generation 4. Widespread view that major corporations were getting away with murder

a. Silent Spring 19625. Industry was caught off guard6. Precipitating events: Santa Barbara oil spill 69Note: Current global-scale challenges were absent Scientists aided but did not drive Earth Day agenda Little need to define and promote “agenda” – ex Love Canal

o Realities of peoples experiences Mass publications in the 70s and reports from scientific groups

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(85-91) The characteristics of the new environmental era, their differences from the first, efforts at amelioration1. Depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer 2. Climate change due to greenhouse gases3. Loss of crop and grazing land due to desertification, erosion, conversion of land to

nonfarm uses 4. Depletion of the world’s tropical forests loss of forest resources5. Mass extinction of species from global loss of wildlife habitat & associated loss of

genetic resources6. Rapid population growth, burgeoning third world cities, and ecological refugees7. Mismanagement and shortages of freshwater resources 8. Overfishing, habitat destruction and pollution in marine environment9. Threats to human health from organic chemicals10. Acid rain & effects of complex mix of air pollutants on fisheries, forests and crops

mid 1980s – global agenda weak political base – but attempting to fix with law

First Movement (1970s): Domestic New Movement: Globalacute, immediate, understandable by public Chronic, remote (from North), technically

complicated difficult to understand & relate to

Bottom-up from actual impacts on people Top-down at international level by scienceLegislation before corporate opposition was aroused

Opposition was prepared to protect corporate interests

US led fight for national level action in 70s US failed to give international leadership on global agenda – typical resistant nation

Could be pinpointed to big corporations Villain is ambiguous

1992 – Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro o United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

(101-102) Difficulties with the “problem-defined approach”5. Anatomy of Failure1. easy to adopt the problem defined approach b/c that was the approach used

domestically 2. defining the solution in terms of the publicly perceived problem, treat advocates

maximized the chance of ongoing public support 3. disaster if solutions had been defined more in terms of underlying drivers and forces

a. environmental community would have lost control of the process

addressing symptoms, not problems too many individual problems coordination problems, limits on participation

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(107-115) Troubles: economic growth, North v. South, equity, free market ideology, cooking the data a la Bjorn Lomborg the environment v. the economy

o need cooperation of large multinational companies o economic pressures political decisions that undermine treaties

North v. Southo Poorer countries feel new policies would undermine their industrial growth

potential o EQUITY is a prerequisite for global agreement

Environmental cooperation can only be possible through solutions that are both equitable and ‘ecologically effective’

major political challenges o developing countries wont agree w/o increased development assistance

US v. the Worldo American exceptionalism + arrogance = America’s negative role o “trade not aid”

Bjorn Lomborgo Keg w/ tap at the bottom – flowing steadily & nearing emptyo How humanity should govern itself in the face of uncertainty

Do nothing b/c regulatory cures are generally worse than environmental disease

o Political argument, not scientific description Misrepresents the scientific literature

Part 3: Facing Up to Underlying Causes

(120-139) Drivers of deterioration. Think about what they are and what effects they have. List on page 120. Consider the connections among things: market failure & consumption for example; or cultural values & technology. Environmental problems rise out of “non-environmental” causes. It’s all related.

6. 10 Drivers of Environmental Deterioration

IPAT Drivers1. Population2. Affluence3. Technology4. Poverty5. Market failure

a. (134) environmental resources are unprotected by the appropriate prices that will constrain their use. A market system doesn’t allocate the use of these resources properly

6. Policy and political failurea. political failure perpetuates and magnifies market failure

7. Scale and rate of economic growth

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a. Economic thought didn’t adjust to the changed conditions it helped create (indirectly) massive, rapid ecological change

8. Nature of our economic systema. Growth-at-all-costs imperative

9. Culture and its values10. Forces loosed upon the world by the globalization of the economy

(141-147) Globalization brings problems – what are some of them. List on 145. Managing globalization for human and environmental ends (147)

7. Globalization and the Environment

1. An expansion of environmentally destructive growth2. Decrease in the ability of national govts to regulate and otherwise cope w/

environmental changes3. Increase in corporate power and reach4. Stimulation of particular sectors like transportation and energy that have largely

negative environmental side effects5. Increased likelihood of economic crises6. The commodification of resources such as water and the decline of traditional local

controls on resource use7. The spatial separation of action and impact from responsibility8. Further ascendancy of the growth imperative9. The rapid spread of invasive species and the resulting biological homogenization

(147) Globalization should hold great promise… it wont unless it is consciously managed fro people and for the environment. If the world wishes to evolve toward an international economy, it will need to develop an international polity equal to the challenge of governing its newly global economy.

Part Four: The Transition to Sustainability

(152-147) Six transitions what they are and how they are related to global environmental troubles. You have seen these arguments before. You need to understand the basic ideas at their foundation. (Also see 237-256)

8. Attacking the Root Causes

1. A stable or smaller world population2. Free of mass poverty3. Environmentally benign technologies

a. Wind farm constructionb. Wind turbine manufacturingc. Hydrogen generationd. Fuel cell manufacturing

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e. Solar cell manufacturingf. Light rail construction

4. Environmentally honest practices5. Sustainable consumption

a. Increase consumer awareness and choiceb. Promote innovative policiesc. Accelerate demand for green productsd. Demand corporate accountabilitye. Encourage sustainable business practices

6. Knowledge and learning

(172-190) Be able to discuss nongovernmental environmental initiatives

9. Taking “Good Governance” Seriously 7th transition must take place in institutions and governance world business council for sustainable development

o FROG: first raise our growth Meet economic challenges first and worry about environment later Business-as-usual

o GEOpolity People turn to govts to focus the market on environmental and social

ends Rely heavily on intergovt institutions and treaties International envi law and global envi agreements

o JAZZ People and businesses create a world full of unscripted, voluntary

initiatives that are decentralized and improvisational, like jazz Info about business behavior is abundant Good conduct is enforced by public opinion and consumer decisions Govts facilitate not regulate Environmental and consumer groups are very active Businesses see strategic advantage in doing the right thing

Basic international environmental law principles (175) – essentially the “Rio Principles”o Fundamental human righto Common concerno Common but differentiated responsibilitieso Duty not to cause environmental harmo Integrationo The polluter pays principleo The precautionary principle o Public participationo Right to development

Call for a World Environmental Organization (WEO) Building a new GEOpolity involves giving the public access to the governance process,

including info needed for responsible participation

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o Both national and international level Environmental organizations and NGOs

(191-201) Be able to discuss the most important transition

10. The Most Fundamental Transition of All TRANSITION IN CULTURE AND CONSCIOUSNESS Caring, nurturing, sustaining Protection for their own sake of the living communities that evolved here with us and

our trusteeship of the earth’s natural wealth and beauty for generations to come New sustainability – nonmaterial fulfillment

o Quality of lifeo Quality of human solidarityo Quality of earth

The Earth Chapter – ethical principles needed to “bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice and culture of peace.”

o Universal responsibility

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Review: [untitled] Author(s): J. B. Source: Population and Development Review, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Mar., 2005), pp. 182-183 Published by: Population Council Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3401453 .Accessed: 19/04/2011 02:18

JAMES GUSTAVESPETH Red Sky at Morning:America and the Crisisof the Global Environment New Haven, CT:YaleUniversityPress.2004. xv + 299 p. $22.80.Rapid population growth and ever-expanding economies have resulted in environmental problems ranging from the local (e.g., air and water pollution, soil ero-sion, and deforestation) to the global (e.g., climate change, loss of biodiversity, and over-fishing of oceans). Thisbook provides a brief summary of these environmental challenges but it is mostly devoted to a review and discussion of national and international responses, and to strategies to manage the transition to sustainability. Since the 1960s an increasingly influential environmental movement has pushed for the adoption of laws to addressvarious threats. In developedccountries these efforts have led to the largely successful implementation of legislation and the creation of regulatory agencies to reduce local pollution. As a result, the quality of the air and water in these countries has generally improved in recent decades. In contrast, international efforts to deal with global issues have been largely unsuccessful; the main exception is the adoption of the Montreal Protocol banning the use of ozone-depleting chemicals. This troubling failure to confront many international environmental issues is attributed to several factors, includingthe remote nature of global problems, disputed science, opposition from corporate interests, and the lack of cooperation from the United States, which has been the principal holdout on a number of international treaties, in particular the Kyoto protocol to limit the production of greenhouse gasses. The book concludes with a call to action on eight goals to bring about sustainability: stabilized world population, reduced poverty, new environmentally benign technologies, environmentally honest prices, sustainable consumption of natural resources, a better-edu- cated public, improved institutions and governance, and changed values. The final chapter provides web-based resources for readers who wish to act to implement these goals. Overall this is a highly informative, thoughtful, and comprehensive overview of a complex and controversial topic. The author's insights into the political dimensions of the ongoing struggle to develop and implement international environmental agreements are particularlyvaluable.-J.B.

Udo E. SimonisNew seminal environmental worksNine review articles

Red Sky at Morning. America and the Crisis of the Global EnvironmentBy James Gustave Speth New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2004, XV + 275 pp. ISBN 0-300-10232-1.“Red sky at night, sailors delight; red sky at morning, sailors take warning” – is a saying amongst sailors often borne out by experience. Gus Speth, the grand old man of American

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environmentalism, has written a shake-up book, a real danger signal. Actually, he is not that old, but old enough to get angry again. And angry Speth is about the failures to protect the global ecology, angry about the incompetence of the international community to prevent biological impoverishment – sad about the US administration whose priorities have strayed badly off the path. A little angry also on himself: ”My generation is a generation, I fear, of great talkers, overly fond of conferences. On action, however, we have fallen far short” (p. 8).In recent years, quite a few books and reports have been published on the state of the global environment, and on global environmental governance. None, I think, is like Speth’s book that combines qualities that seldom go together: extensive empirical evidence, razor-sharp analysis, and personal engagement, compassion even.The central hypothesis of the book is straightforward: It is about challeng- ing those who may believe that the international negotiations, treaties and other agreements of the past decades have prepared us to deal with global environmental threats; they haven’t: “The current system of international4 New Seminal Environmental Worksefforts to help the environment simply isn’t working. The design makes sure it won’t work, and the statistics keep getting worse. We need a new design, and to make that happen, civil society must take the helm” (p. xii).In four parts, Speth starts off to present such a new design by telling the story of how things got the way they are now – and how we can change them.Part I (pp. 11-73) is on how environmental challenges increasingly go global. He is presenting “A World of Wounds”, sweeping and disturbing evidence on the two mega trends of environmental degradation - industrial pollution and biological impoverishment - that occur in an increasingly fuller world. For such crucial issues as deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and climate change, he says, we have already run out of time. Speth is not quoting the Meadows at this point, but he makes it very clear: here, we are already beyond the limits. Instead, he is citing Dante’s notice at the en- trance of Hell: “Abandon all hope you who enter” (p. 11) and some of the statistics he is presenting are indeed hellish. Yet abandoning hope, he be- lieves, is precisely what we must not do: “However bad the situation looks, remember: there are solutions” (p. xiii) – better solutions than the ones discussed and presented in the past.Thus, part II of the book (pp. 75–116) is a really fine review of the first at- tempts at global environmental governance. But no doubt, it is a review of an “Anatomy of Failure”. Given the magnitude of the challenges, the responses mounted by the international community appear pitifully weak. Undoubtedly, international environmental affairs have become a major sub- ject of scholarly inquiry and teaching, a large body of relevant scholarship now exists – though only one environmental research was to win a Nobel prize so far (Rowland, Molina, Crutzen).Udo E. Simonis 5It is interesting, Speth says, to contrast the environmental field with the economic one: The phrase “managing the global economy” comes easily; but “managing the global environment” still sounds strange somehow, fu- turistic even, although it should not: “The global environment is more of an integrated system than the global economy; it is even more fundamental to human well-being” (p. 78). The bottom line is that the treaties, agreements, and protocols do not drive the changes that are needed: “The Climate Con- vention is not protecting the climate, the Biodiversity Convention is not protecting

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biodiversity, the Desertification Convention is not preventing desertification, and even the older and stronger Convention on the Law of the Sea is not protecting fisheries”. In this manner, global environmental problems have gone from bad to worse: “Governments are not yet prepared to deal with them, and, at present, many governments... lack the leadership to get prepared” (p. 97).Speth mainly blames his own country for the state of affairs: ”Following its leadership on ozone depletion, the United States has typically been the principal holdout on international environmental agreements” (p. 88). And, furthermore: “If there is one country that bears most responsibility for the lack of progress on international environmental issues, it is the United States” (p. 109).It is well known that the Bush administration has rejected the Kyoto Proto- col, but the list of important environmental agreements not ratified by the United States is much longer (see p. 110). Speth quotes political philoso- pher Benjamin Barber on the reasons for this: ”The policies can be traced directly to that proud disdain for the public realm that is common to all market fundamentalists, Republicans and Democrats alike... The United States fails to see that the international treaties it won’t sign, the criminal6 New Seminal Environmental Workscourt it will not acknowledge, and the United Nations system it does not adequately support are all efforts... at developing a new global contract to contain the chaos... The ascendant market ideology claims to free us, but it actually robs us of the civic freedom by which we control the social conse- quences of our private choices” (p. 111).Part III of the book (pp. 117–147) is a major analysis of the underlying causes, the drivers of global environmental impacts, among them the well- known IPAT drivers: population, affluence and technology, and the forces loosed upon the world by the globalisation of the economy.In part IV (pp. 149–201), Speth presents his own solutions to the problems discussed. He calls his vision the “eight-fold way” – mega trends or transitions we need for global environmental protection and sustainable development (transitions 1 – 8): A stable or smaller world population; free of mass poverty; environmentally benign technologies; environmentally honest prices; sustainable consumption; ecological knowledge and learning; good governance; and active citizenry, a transition towards culture and honest environmental values.This, in my mind, is the major part of the book, a genuine contribution, of- fering many interesting and provoking ideas and suggestions – on FROG philosophy, GEOpolity, and taking JAZZ to scale, on transitions that need to be debated and must take place in local, national, and international institutions to enable global environmental governance to succeed.This reviewer was especially pleased to find Gus Speth to be among the promoters of transforming the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) into an effective World Environment Organisation (WEO): “Hav- ing a well-funded World Environment Organisation... would make a major difference” (p. 179), he says.Udo E. Simonis 7There is an interesting and imaginative addendum to the book, a part V so to speak, the result of a collaboration with Kelly Levin and Heather Creech, entitled Resources for Citizens (pp. 203 – 228), and structured according to Speth’s “eight-fold way” (the eight major transitions). It is a documentation of US citizen actions (on organisations and Web-

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based resources) in areas where individuals have an impact on global environmental challenges, i.e. in their role as voters, investors, consumers, activists, and educators. (Read- ing this chapter on describing a multitude of citizen actions, readers will wonder how long the present US administration can further negate global environmental governance issues).The main message of the book in this way is further specified and becomes very concrete – while the author’s anger becomes more conciliatory: Major changes are in order, changes that must be driven by a sense of urgency. Effective global environmental governance needs a fair legal basis and strong institutions, but it would not succeed without higher environmental consciousness and an active citizenry.Gus Speth’s book thus is alarming and visionary at the same time. It is an important and authoritative book on a looming global disaster – and on how to avoid it. If books can change the way we understand the future of our planet, this book will.

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Notes on Speth's Red Sky At Morning