Book Description
In this powerful indictment of George W. Bush's White House, environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., charges that the administration has taken corporate favoritism to unprecedented heights -- threatening our health, our national security, and our democracy.
Kennedy lifts the veil on how the administration, in order to enrich its corporate paymasters, has eviscerated the laws that protect our nation's air, water, public lands, and wildlife. He describes the White House doling out lavish subsidies and tax breaks to energy barons while allowing the corporations to profit by poisoning the public and eliminating security at the more than 15,000 nuclear and chemical facilities that are prime targets for terrorist attacks. He shows how right-wing White House ideologues have taken the "conserve" out of conservatism and trampled the free-market democracy in favor of a kind of corporate-crony capitalism that is as antithetical to democracy, efficiency, and prosperity in America as it is in Nigeria.
Crimes Against Nature is a book for both Democrats and Republicans, people like the traditionally conservative farmers and fishermen whom Kennedy represents in lawsuits against polluters. "Without exception," he writes, "these people see the current administration as the greatest threat not just to their livelihoods but to their values, their sense of community, and their idea of what it means to be American."
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In this powerful and far-reaching indictment of George W. Bush's White House, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the country's most prominent environmental attorney, charges that this administration has taken corporate cronyism to such unprecedented heights that it now threatens our health, our national security, and democracy as we know it. In a headlong pursuit of private profit and personal power, Kennedy writes, George Bush and his administration have eviscerated the laws that have protected our nation's air,water, public lands, and wildlife for the past thirty years, enriching the president's political contributors whilelowering the quality of life for the rest of us.
Kennedy lifts the veil on how the administration has orchestrated these rollbacks almost entirely outside of public scrutiny -- and in tandem with the very industries that our laws are meant to regulate, the country's most notorious polluters. He writes of how it has deceived the public by manipulating and suppressing scientific data, intimidated enforcement officials and other civil servants, and masked its agenda with Orwellian doublespeak. He reports on how the White House doles out lavish subsidies and tax breaks to the energy barons while excusing industry from providing adequate security at the more than 15,000 chemical and nuclear facilities that are prime targets for terrorist attacks. Kennedy reveals an administration whose policies have ""squandered our Treasury, entangled us in foreign wars, diminished our international prestige, made us a target for terrorist attacks, and increased our reliance on petty Middle Eastern dictators who despise democracy and are hated by their own people.""
Crimes Against Nature is ultimately about the corrosive effect of corporate corruption on our core American values -- free-market capitalism and democracy. It is about an administration, the author argues, that has sacrificed respect for the law, public health, scientific integrity, and long-term economic vitality on the altar of corporate greed. It is a book for both Democrats and Republicans, people like the traditionally conservative farmers and fishermen Kennedy represents in lawsuits against polluters. ""Without exception,"" he writes, ""these people see the current administration as the greatest threat not just to their livelihoods but to their values, their sense of community, and their idea of what it means to be American.""
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Customer Reviews:
Blames far too much on Bush.......2007-10-13
I can only spot one glaring error:
On page 2, the author states, "I want to be very clear here: This book is not about a Democrat attacking a Republican administration."
If I had a dime every time he used the phrase "right wing," the book would be free.
Nothing's "left wing" just right wing. He seems to lay all blame for all time at the hands of George, Jr. Hey, the guy's made some terrible environmental blunders but I don't recall any radical environmental improvements during Bill Clinton's eight (8) years. In fact, I'll go record saying that the Clean Air Amendments of 1990 (signed by George, Sr.) have been the most significant air regulations in the last 17 years. Why didn't Clinton mandate and phase in all the CAFE standards during his tenure? Probably, because both parties of Congress have to address the economy first, the environment second.
Kennedy takes his environmental stance too far when he quotes a constitutent on page 85, "With a president who doesn't believe in evolution, it's hard to imagine what kind of scientific evidence would suffice..." By making the environment his religion, his arguments start sounding like fanatical ramblings.
Is Bush really responsible for Hurricane Katrina? For the polluted Hudson River? For all of America's pollution problems? Was all the environmental degradation done only on his watch? What about the failures of past president's and their lack of environmental leadership?
True, Bush has passed on his chance to wean us off foreign oil while improving the environment (primarily by addressing auto pollution and alternative technologies) but so has every president up to now.
Which pill would you like to take the blue pill or the red pill(CAN).......2007-08-19
Metaphorically speaking, Do you live on in ignorance (The blue pill) or do you lead what Aristotle called 'the examined life'(Red Pill). Do you read CAN or do you live in ignorance?
One really big point that Mr. Kennedy makes in the first chapter of the book, is that his book has nothing to do with Republican versus Democrat. He states that the environment belongs to all of us. Not just one political affilitation.
Crimes Against Nature was a real eye opener for me. You have to read this book. So much of the truth that should be available to the American public is squashed by various laws and phony junk science produced by special interest groups who want to control what we think. This book is filled with the facts.
After reading this book I felt betrayed by the Bush administration. This administration is responsible for over 400 environmental rollbacks.
This administration has accepted over 100 million dollars from the utility industry, and has in turn rewarded them by putting polluters in key government positions that were meant to protect our natural resources.
If I were to have named this book, I would have named it "Organized Crimes against Nature". I strongly recommend reading this book.
If you care about the future of this earth and what we will bequeth to future generations with our natural resources, then I recommend that you read this book.
God Bless Mr. Kennedy, as he has dedicated his life to a great cause.
Not only is Mr. Kennedy an excellent writer, but he is a great Orator as well. You can check out his speaches on YouTube:
[...]
My Eyes Were Opened To The Truth.......2007-08-11
I gave this book 5 stars, because this book opened by eyes to things that I had no idea were happening. I knew some of the things that were happening, but not to the extent that it is happening. I know in my heart that Robert Kennedy Jr is telling the truth about the true condition of this country.
I would encourage all people who are interested in the truth to read this book. I know that many people will feel that Republicans are being attacked, but I don't think that is the intent at all, but RFK jr is exposing the reasons why we as Americans are being mislead to voting for people who lie to us. When is the last time Americans were encouraged to be the best they could be and put what was best for this Country first and make a positive change? Now we have Americans who are being scared and out of fear approve of policies that have led to America being hated across the world. For those who would think I am a die hard liberal Democrat I am an Independent. I just believe in shining the light on the darkness and believe that America is fighting for her very soul and I want to see America saved for future generations. So yes, I agree with RFK jr on his accessment and encourage this book to be read and passed on so that more people will be awaken to the truth.
My Nephew is in Law School and will be an Enviromental Attorney in Hawaii and that is just one reason I have started to really look into the issues of global warming, the enviroment, etc. I wanted to be informed so I could with knowledge encourage my nephew to choose a path that makes a difference for good. I hope that when my nephew is graduated that he will follow in the footsteps of Robert Kennedy Jr who is fighting for the American people. I do not want my nephew join the energy companies or others who have no concern about the future of this country. Anyway, I plan to give this book to my nephew which I hope will inspire him to choose the right direction when he graduates next June.
This book also answered questions about the Media. I know in my heart he is telling the truth about that as well. With the end of the free press we are in danger of loosing our Democratic Republic. We no longer have an informed citizentry who votes from knowledge of the facts, but bases their decision on misinformation and sound bites.
It takes great courage to be willing to shine the light on the darkness. Robert Kennedy is doing that, not only with this book but with his life long work.
I look forward to reading more books on this issue and passing them on to my nephew while he is in Law School as he is making up his mind as to what direction he will go when he graduates this June.
Eating your own words.......2007-08-03
I loved this book when I read it. "Yes! Finally a real expose!"
But then I read Cape Wind: Money, Celebrity, Class, Politics, and the Battle for Our Energy Future on Nantucket Sound, which tells about how the Cape Cod elite, which of course includes the environmentally enlightened Kennedy family, and was appalled once again how NIMBYism could blind even the most devoted people.
Certainly read this book, because it is very much worth your time, but read Cape Wind afterwards, for even more insight into the politics of the environment!
impeach bush.......2007-07-03
If the allegations about corruption and lying described in this book are true, which they probably are because there where no denials from the white house, why is Bush still in office ? Why are the Democrats such toothless whiners, not taking action to rid the US of Bush and restore the values America was once respected and admired for? This Administration is kicking your values with their feet and is destroying your country and your kids heritage. Look at libby, why isnt there a huge Uproar in the US ? Be a patriot, impeach Bush !
Amazon.com
On Competition, a collection of works by Michael E. Porter, is a critical examination of the dog-eat-dog international economy. A Harvard Business School professor, Porter is one of the most respected and innovative economists of his time. Author of 15 books, he advises key elected officials and business leaders in all parts of the world. On Competition features 13 of his best articles over the past 15 years, including 2 new ones. The essence of Porter's message is that every company, country, and person must master competition to thrive in brutal international and domestic economies. Competition is the key to excellence. Worried about losing your job or your services becoming obsolete? Porter believes that a little fear is good for everyone. "Companies that value stability, obedient customers, dependent suppliers and sleepy competitors are inviting inertia and, ultimately, failure," he writes in his 1990 study and essay "The Competitive Advantage of Nations." Porter is a longtime critic of the short-term thinking on Wall Street that often stifles competition and hurts the economy. In "Capital Disadvantage: America's Failing Capital Investment System," he calls for much lower capital-gains rates for people who invest for the long term. He also urges investors and businesses to start thinking together. He contends that pension funds and institutional investors should get a greater say over the companies they own. It's wacky to have company directors with little expertise or financial interest in the company, he writes.
Porter is often unconventional and asserts that businessmen must be, too. In his essay "Green and Competitive," he shows little sympathy for businesses that complain about environmental regulations. Rules to protect the environment don't have to strangle companies--they can actually improve productivity with the right attitude and approach. Rhone-Poulenc, a French chemical and drug company, proved this when it stopped incinerating a certain byproduct and began selling it as an additive for dyes and tanning. Readable and provocative, On Competition is vital for business, government, and financial leaders as well as small-business people and investors. --Dan Ring
Book Description
For the past 15 years, Michael Porter's work has defined our fundamental understanding of competition and competitive strategy. Presented here for the first time as a collective whole are a dozen articles: two entirely new articles and ten of Porter's articles from the Harvard Business Review. The collection includes a framing introduction from Porter. As a collection, these essays assume a new strength and significance, with each piece augmenting and supporting a complete picture of Porter's perspective on modern competition. To read through this collection is to experience Porter at work: we see first hand as his important theories take shape, deepen, and evolve over time. Organized around three primary categories: Competition and Strategy: Core Concepts, The Competitiveness of Location, and Competitive Solutions to Societal Problems, these articles develop the building blocks that define competitive strategy as we know it. With his unique ability to bridge economics with management, Porter addresses the important issues of competition, from its relationship with environmental regulation to the counterintuitive role of geography in the global economy. A Harvard Business Review Book.
Customer Reviews:
Even More Relevant and More Valuable Today.......2006-05-30
I read this book when it was first published (in 1979) and recently re-read it prior to reading his most recent work, Redefining Health Care which I will also review in the near future. In the Introduction (which then became the first chapter of Competitive Strategy, published in 1980), Porter observes that competition "has intensified over the last decades, in virtually all parts of the world." That is even more true of competition - especially global competition -- during the 27 years since Porter shared that observation. Nonetheless, the core concepts which he and his collaborators rigorously examine remain relevant...indeed, in my opinion, have become even more relevant. Consider these assertions:
1. Competition shapes strategy
2. Successful strategy creates a "fit" among all organizational activities
3. Information can provide a decisive competitive advantage
4. Declining industries require an "end-game" strategy
5. Successful corporate strategy "builds" on three premises: Competition occurs at the business unit level, diversification inevitably adds costs and constraints to business units, and, shareholders can readily diversify themselves.
6. "Moving from competitive strategy to corporate strategy is the business equivalent of passing through the Bermuda Triangle."
Porter carefully organizes the material within three Parts: First, he focuses on competition and strategy for companies at both the level of a single industry and then for multinational or diversified companies; next, he addresses the role of location in competition; and then he Part III, he addresses some important societal issues (e.g. environment, urban poverty, health care, and income inequality), each of which he asserts - and I wholly agree - is "inextricably bound up with economics and, more specifically, with competition."
All but two of the articles originally appeared in Harvard Business Review, the exceptions being "Clusters and Competition: New Agendas for Companies, Governments, and Institutions" and "Competing Across Locations: Enhancing Competitive Advantage through a Global Strategy." In the former, Porter explains his concept of clusters, clusters which are geographic concentrations of firms, suppliers, related industries, and specialized institutions that occur in a particular field in a nation, state, or city. In the latter, Porter brings together the two dimensions of international strategy - location and global networks. As he observes, "The concept of activities, so important to understanding competitive advantage in general terms, provides the basic framework for international strategy as well."
This is by no means an "easy read" but it will generously reward those who read it with appropriate care. By all accounts, Michael Porter is among the most influential and productive knowledge leaders, justly renowned for his cutting-edge thinking on the subject of strategy formulation and implementation but in this volume and in countless others, he also has much of great value to say about competitive and corporate strategy insofar as their global impact is concerned. That said, many of his greatest concerns are those specifically related to the U.S. economy. Hence the importance to me of what he and his collaborators (Claas van der Linde, Elizabeth Olmsted Teisberg, and Gregory B. Brown) have to say in Part III: "Competitive Solutions to Societal Problems."
Those who share my high regard for this volume are urged to check out Porter's other works as well as two recently published books: Kenichi Ohmae's The Next Global Stage and C.K. Prahalad's The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid.
Insightful!.......2005-06-20
Remember when you were a youthful entrepreneur operating a neighborhood lemonade stand? If author Michael E. Porter had walked up to buy a cup of punch from you, he probably would have asked about your business strategy. While you poured, he would have questioned what made your lemonade different from anyone else's. If he liked your lemonade, he'd no doubt give you suggestions on how to earn millions competing in the global marketplace. Ah, if only you had listened... The author, America's dean of competition, has spent two decades asking seminal questions such as, "What is competition? What are its effects? How can society benefit?" The Harvard Business Review previously published 11 of the 13 articles collected in this book. In the two new essays, Porter serves up invaluable concepts. His take on the growing importance of location, despite rising globalization, is a tour de force. Oddly, Porter sees no inconsistency in encouraging "productive competition" in the health care industry while advocating universal health care. For Porter, competition is the ingredient that turns lemons into lemonade. We recommend his latest book to any corporate strategist who seeks ideas on becoming more competitive, starting in your own neighborhood.
Helpful Essays from a Corporate Strategy Icon.......2002-12-07
This book is a collection of essays and articles by Michael Porter alone or with others. Most of them are collected from his writings in the Harvard Business Review although two are new to this book. Think of this as a "Porter's Greatest Hits" kind of thing. That is a bit misleading because his HBR articles are not exactly the same thing as his Competitive Advantage books although the topics are definitely related.
The essays are grouped into three broad sections: 1) Competition and Strategy: Core Concepts, 2) The Competitiveness of Locations, and 3) Competitive Solutions to Societal Problems. Will you find each article of the same high quality? Probably not (again, like a greatest hits collection), but you will find them informative and thought provoking. It is impossible to study for an MBA nowadays without invoking "Porter's Five Forces" in your discussions of competitive and marketing strategy.
This book can help add to your thinking and understanding of how every aspect of our life is in some way part of a competitive context and the ways it improves our standard of living. It will also help you improve your thinking in how to best strategize for and participate in competitive situations.
It would be a mistake to think that Porter advocates for a Hobbesian nightmare of life being nasty, brutish and short. Rather, he is more or less helping us think through the nature of the way competition arises and how to best think about its sources and how to manage it and the traps to avoid.
While Porter's model is used by some as a hammer that sees everything as a nail, it really needn't be used that way and, in its proper context, is very helpful.
Great aggregration of Porter's work.......2001-10-26
'Porter On Competition' is 'lighter' to read than his 'Trilogy', but it nicely consists the core ideas of his work & how it evolved during the past decades. It provides reader a nice overview about how competitive strategy & competitive advantage are applicable to a wide range of areas: from corporation, industry & nation, to social issues such as health care & environment.
Ladies and Gentlemen please! time to get out the Porter.......2001-03-04
You can always tell when it's time to dust off the old Michael E. Porter books and to start to frantically search for better and sounder ways to do business and compete, it's when the economy starts to get a little tighter and begin to show signs of taking a down-turn, like about now.
So, before you fork out good money and time to read the next great and grandiose book on how to make a fast few million bucks on the internet read this first, and you will still be in business this time next year, and after that - maybe.
Amazon.com
Crashing the Party is Ralph Nader's raucous and righteously indignant account of his Green Party candidacy in the 2000 American presidential election. Nader weaves an anecdotal recounting--virtually speech-by-speech--of his exhausting, 50-state campaign with impassioned summaries of his political opinions. Primarily, Nader sees the current political structure as ominously flawed: a two-party system, he says, exists in a "drowsy equilibrium," and the parties--both in thrall to corporate interests--are concerned less with the people's needs than their own self-perpetuation. An equal-opportunity critic, he slings arrows not only at what he sees as a myopic, lazy media and Republicans (he calls former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman a "latter-day Marie Antoinette"), but organized labor, prominent Democrats, and certain fair-weather Hollywood friends as well.
Though overly strident at times, Crashing the Party is a noteworthy, thoughtful addition to the literature of muckraking. --H. O'Billovitch
Book Description
Ralph Nader is one of Americas most passionate and effective social critics, a man Time magazine called the U. S.s toughest customer. Naders work has gone a long way to improve the safety of the cars we drive, the food we eat, and the water we drink. In 2000, when he ran for President on the Green Party ticket, nearly three million people voted for him. In his scathing, honest account of the 2000 presidential race, Nader takes aim at those who have spoiled American democracy. Crashing the Party goes deep inside Naders campaign and reveals: What it takes to run against a two-party juggernaut How old liberal friends turned against him Why the Green Party looks better than ever to progressive Democrats Why Bush and Gore were afraid to let him in on their debates How public interest has been lost to corporate bankrolling.
Download Description
The inspiring and unrepentant memoir of Ralph Nader during the 2000 election.
Customer Reviews:
Crash the Rigged Two Party System.......2005-06-13
This is the ultimate book in understanding the importance of breaking free from the lesser of two-evil mentality. Journey with the Nader 2000 presidential campaign through all the obstacles the two-party duopoly inflicts on third party and independent candidates. It provides critical education about the rigged electoral system the Republicrats have cunningly crafted. This book shows that with courage and optimism one can stand up and fight with the corporate owned two-party system.
Great man of integrity and honesty !.......2005-05-27
Nader is brilliant, decent, and incorruptible.
Nader's high ethical standards and great ideas should be a guiding torch to our government.
Thanks to him, there is some accountability in Washington. His persistence to fight for the public stands strong in defiance of the black out by the media and the dirty smear campaigns by the politicians. If Nader was corrupt he would've been recruited by the elites and could've occupied the White House or other high positions in government and top corporations.
Nader is never for sale and will continue to stand for the little people as an icon of truth and integrity.
I would highly recommend his book for every citizen that has concerns for his country, and for every person that values ethics in business, government, and life in general....
Alternative Medicine For Corporate Aristocracy.......2005-02-03
This is an excellent book on the issues that face American politics today, the views of Ralph Nader and his story relating to the 2000 election year and his campaign trail.
The book raises awareness to the issues of corporate welfare practiced by both the Republican and Democratic parties, how the Democrats have morphed into a pseudo-Republican party, under the heavy influence of corporate lobbyists, ceasing to represent the working class and masses as Roosevelt and other great Democrats have done in the past.
And the results are ecological damages, social injustices which have removed equal opportunities, centralization of power, corporate owned business which has eliminated much of the community based revenues, a disrespect for diversity and citizen participation and the monetary interests of plutocrat - the corporate elites - removing personal and global responsibilities. Inflation has risen, workers make less, poverty has increased, minimum wage is lower today in relation to inflation. Americans work longer hours for the same pay. Farmers have been devastated by large corporate industry, public works and schools have been given less and less funding and are crumbling, corporate welfare programs that take our tax dollars amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars ever year continue to rise with government giveaways of taxpayer assets including public forests, minerals and new medicines. Affordable housing are at record low levels, while the large corporate banks show record profits. Consumer debt is at a al-time high. Personal bankruptcies are at a record level. Personal savings are dropping to record lows and personal assets are extremely low. Corporate welfare dominates while small inadequate budgets provide the publics health and safety issues. Environmental regulations are removed for corporate interests. Wealth inequality is greater than at any time since World War II. The top 1 percent of the wealthiest people have more financial wealth than the bottom 90 percent of Americans combined, the worst inequality among large Western nations. And with all this, the corporate lobbyists continue to receive more privileges and immunities for their wrongdoing, while the workers, the labor parties, the populists - farmers, the environmentalists, the feminists, those that work towards civil rights - all are diminishing in great degrees.
The argument against Nader is his pulling of votes away from the Democrats, resulting in Republican elections. Yet this argument is a lame duck when you put Socratic inquiry to the Democratic party and see the morphing there of into another Republican party. The two party duopoly has been called the DemRep party and the corporate control, the plutocrats, are buying the government which can result in an aristocracy and totalitarian system, this time base on radical privatization instead of state owned communism, however the end results are the same. The third party, the Greens, offer an alternative, a vote against big-money politics as usual. The duopoly offers a politics of fear - the lesser of two corrupt parties, while the third party offers a politics of home and democratic renewal And even if not the elected party, if offers itself as a constant watchdog of the Democratic party to make necessary changes.
I think Nader gives a good account of the media, the third party partisan bias in American politics, the problem with the corporate directed Commission on Presidential Debates - the CPD, his campaign trail, his opposition, party funders, party loyalists and etc.
On page 289 take from the New York Times: "The Green Party recognizes that every major social-justice movement in our history was made possible by a shift of more power to the people, away from the power that the few control. And it's way past time for a shift of power today from big business to the people. When slavery was abolished, shift of power from the plantations. Women's right to vote installed, that was a shift of power. Freedom to form trade unions by workers, shift of power form the industrialists to the workers. When the farmers started the progressive political movement, shift of power from the banks and the railroads to the farm areas and gave us political reforms for all Americans to enjoy to this day 100 years later. Power is the central contention of politics; that's what it's all about. If we don't have a more equitable destitution of power, there is no equitable distribution of wealth or income. And people who work hard will not get their just rewards. And the main way to shift power, if you had to have one reform is with public funding of public elections. Clean money, clean elections. Clean money and clean elections to stop the nullification of your votes by special interest money. Just thing about it; you go down to vote, you expect it to count, and the votes are cut off at the pass by fancy fund-raising dinners all over the country where fat cats pay off politicians for present and future favors and the politicians shake down the fat cats in a kind of combined symbiosis of legalized bribery and legalized extortion."
"Civilization as if people are first is not just about opportunities; it is about limits and boundaries around antisocial, criminogenic behavior whose limitless logic eventually would spell omnicide for this very limited home we call Mother Earth." page 315
the inside story.......2004-12-02
This is a good recount of the inside story of our nation and it's one party political machine. Nader talks about how hard it is for third party (or in my view second party since the first two are basically the same) candidates to make any progress in our political system. It is the democrats who lost 2000 by giving up the recount vote, not Nader. Too bad he decided to go off and do his own thing this time instead of working on forming the Gree Party. But the book is definately a must read for anyone interested in our political system.
Review on Crashing the Party: Taking on the Corporate Govern.......2004-06-05
Yo pienso que este libro es interesante, pero no lo suficientemente interesante como para leerlo para la entretención de un lector. En lo personal yono le tomo mucha importancia a la política cometitiva porque todo lo que se habla es argumentos sin sentido y para obtenerpopularidad y no se ve la energía o el animo de querer ser el presidente de los Estados Unidos si no que solo obtener popularidad.
Book Description
In Cannibals with Forks, best-selling author and green business guru John Elkington convincingly argues that future market success will often depend upon a company's ability to satisfy the three-pronged fork of profitability, environmental quality, and social justice. This lively and practical guide outlines the seven great "sustainable" revolutions that are already unfolding, showing how business leaders should respond and profiles some of the world's best-known companies including Nike, Wal-mart, Levi Strauss, Volkswagen, Texaco, Intel, Volvo, Dow Chemical, Electrolux, Novo Nordisk, and Shell.
Customer Reviews:
Global view on sustainability.......2003-06-12
Do not expect from this book practical guidelines to become "sustainable" as some reviewers seemed to have expected. This book explains in detail what sustainability involves, three majors fields: economical, social and environmental that the author called the triple bottom line. Each field has been for long separated from each other and the new trend for sustainability is to make them working together. How? There are no answers in this book. This book does not want to offer solutions but just to show us that this so-called revolution has already started, based on existing facts and where these changes are taking places.
Low on content and little practical guidance.......2003-04-01
This book is bogged down in useless metaphores and imprecise, whooly language - well suited neither for practical decision-makers nor serious academics. Claims are not explained sufficiently well, and we are left guessing how to solve - or even understand - the important problems that this book claims to adress.
Low on content and little practical guidance.......2003-04-01
This book is bogged down in useless metaphores and imprecise, whooly language - well suited neither for practical decision-makers nor serious academics. Claims are not explained sufficiently well, and we are left guessing how to solve - or even understand - the important problems that this book claims to adress.
a guide to get from here to there.......2003-01-28
Elkington has created an awesome nuts and bolts description of where we have been, where we are, and where we are going. If The Ecology of Commerce (Paul Hawken) lays the visionary groundwork, this book is the next step. It adds in a lot of detail, bringing to light many cases and ideas about specific problems. It is a slow read but well worth the time.
The bible of sustainability.......2001-03-14
You can expect a complete perspective from the head of an organisation called SustainAbility on sustainability. That is what you get. John Elkington makes a useful classification of Non Governmental Organisations. The polarisers don't want to have anything to do with business. Business is in principle bad and should be watched and harassed. The integrators try to add two additional dimensions to business, environmental and social responsibility. Discriminators differentiate between good and bad businesses and the non-discriminators do not. This book is for the discriminating integrators. John Elkington believes that it is possible and necessary to get all businesses to act responsibly concerning profit and social and environmental issues- the triple bottom line. The book provides an excellent historical perspective of why businesses are moving on from the Friedman doctrine stating that the only social responsibility of a business is to make a profit. A business that wants to move in the sustainability direction can use the book to find out where it is on the path to full sustainability. The book also makes many practical suggestions on how to move forwards. The book is equally useful for NGOs, and public policy makers.
Book Description
It is well known that American businesses make an effort to influence environmental policy by attempting to set the political agenda and to influence regulations and legislation. This book examines what is not so well known: the extent to which business succeeds in its policy interventions. In Business and Environmental Policy, a team of distinguished scholars systematically analyzes corporate influence at all stages of the policy process, focusing on the factors that determine the success or failure of business lobbying in Congress, state legislatures, local governments, federal and state agencies, and the courts. These experts consider whether business influence is effectively counterbalanced by the efforts of environmental groups, public opinion, and other forces.
The book also examines the use of the media to influence public opinion--as in the battle over drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge--and corporations’ efforts to sway elections by making campaign contributions. Because the book goes well beyond the existing literature--much of which is narrow, descriptive, and anecdotal--to provide broad-based empirical evidence of corporate influence on environmental policy, it makes an original and important contribution and is appropriate for a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses.
Contributors:
Christopher J. Bosso, Gary C. Bryner, Cary Coglianese, Robert J. Duffy, Scott R. Furlong, Deborah Lynn Guber, Sheldon Kamieniecki, Michael E. Kraft, Judith A. Layzer, Lettie McSpadden, Philip A. Mundo, Kent E. Portney, Barry G. Rabe, and Paul S. Weiland
Book Description
A real-life thriller about the corporate takeover of our most basic resource. In a shocking exposé, Blue Gold shows why, as the vice-president of the World Bank has pronounced, "The wars of the next century will be about water." Increasingly, transnational corporations are plotting to control the world's dwindling water supply. In England and France, where water has already been privatized, rates have soared and water shortages have been severe. The major bottled-water producers—Perrier, Evian, Naya, and now Coca Cola and PepsiCo—are part of one of the fastest growing and least regulated industries, buying up fresh-water rights and drying up crucial supplies. Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke, two of the most active opponents to this trend, show how the corporate giants act in their own interest and how, contrary to received wisdom, water flows uphill to the wealthy, who can afford it. The consumption of water doubles every 20 years—more than twice the rate of the increase in human population. Blue Gold captures in striking detail the forces behind the increasing depletion of the world's fresh water, and the human and ecological impacts.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent case for public ownership of water services.......2006-09-08
This excellent book makes the case for public ownership and control over our water services.
In the past ten years, three giant global corporations, France's Suez and Vivendi Environnement, and Thames, have seized control over the water supplied to almost 300 million people in every continent. Vivendi increased its water revenue from $5 billion in 1990 to over $12 billion by 2002, RWE from $25 million in 1990 to $2.5 billion in 2002.
These companies claim to be `passionate, caring and reliable', yet they push for higher rate increases, frequently fail to meet their commitments and abandon a waterworks if they are not making enough money. As Suez's Chief Executive Officer said, "Water is an efficient product. It is a product which normally would be free, and our job is to sell it." In France, charges for privatised water services are 13% higher than for public services.
For two months in 1998, after privatisation, more than three million residents of Sydney were forced to boil their drinking water to kill parasites. Fifteen months after the city of Adelaide signed a contract turning over its waterworks to Thames Water and Vivendi, the city was engulfed in a powerful sewage smell, `the big pong'.
New Jersey, Buenos Aires, Bogota, Manila and Jakarta have all experienced problems after privatisation. In 1996 Hamilton in Canada experienced its worst-ever sewage spill, when 48 million gallons of untreated human waste, heavy metals and chemicals flooded into Lake Ontario. Atlanta, Georgia, gave control over its water to Suez five years ago, and quality and service dropped. The city returned control to the public utility.
In Cochabamba, Bolivia, after Aguas del Tunari, a Bechtel subsidiary, took control of the city's waterworks in 1999, it raised water bills 100%. The contract allowed the company to close down people's private wells unless they paid Aguas del Tunari for the water. Union leader Oscar Olivera said, "They wanted to privatise the rain." The city's people organised a referendum. Most voted to end the contract and forced Bechtel out of the country. Similarly, in 2000 the people of Grenoble succeeded in returning their water and sewage system to public control.
In Iraq, the US state put Bechtel in charge of rebuilding the water and sewage systems. But, as the U.S. Agency for International Development reported, "Baghdad's three sewage treatment plants, which together comprise three-quarters of the nation's sewage treatment capacity, are inoperable, allowing the waste from 3.8 million people to flow untreated directly into the Tigris River." A UN survey in May 2004 found that 80% of families living in rural areas had no safe water. Only 64 of 249 planned water projects have been completed.
In 1999, South Africa initiated five water privatisation programs, aiming to make people pay the full cost of having running water in their homes. As Nelson Mandela had said, "Privatisation is the fundamental policy of our government. Call me a Thatcherite, if you will." Consequently, ten million South Africans had their water cut off for various periods, forcing people to get water from polluted rivers and lakes, leading to South Africa's worst outbreak of cholera. More than 140,000 people were infected and 265 died.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) says that 98% of whites, but only 27% of blacks, had access to clean water in their homes in March 2001. A smaller proportion of the population has access to water than in 1994. In rural areas, only 2% of blacks had indoor plumbing. Two million people have been evicted for not paying utility bills. Many poor families pay 30% of their income for water. Despite South Africa's rating by the United Nations Development Index as a middle-to-upper-income country, one child in 22 dies before reaching the age of one, often from diarrhoea caused by poor water. The 13% white minority is 18th on the Human Development Index, equal to New Zealand. The black majority is 118th, in line with Bolivia. Of all the countries in the world, only Guatemala has a wider gap between rich and poor.
In 2004, the Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation concluded its study of privatisations in sub-Saharan Africa, "profit-maximizing behaviour has led privatised companies to keep investments below the necessary levels, with the result that rural communities and the urban poor were further marginalised."
The European Commission has been driving privatisation of all our utilities, and its new EU-wide water regulations should mean fat new contracts for the water giants. Since 1998, Vivendi and Suez, backed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, have secured water concessions in at least 23 major cities and districts in Eastern Europe.
The big three are also moving into the USA, buying its largest private water utility companies. They have increased their lobbying and federal election campaign spending. In Washington, they have already secured beneficial tax law changes and are now trying to persuade Congress to pass laws that would force cash-strapped municipal governments to privatise their waterworks in exchange for federal grants and loans.
Water, like air, is a necessity of human life. It must not be treated as what Fortune magazine calls, "One of the world's great business opportunities. It promises to be to the 21st century what oil was to the 20th: a precious commodity that determines the wealth of nations." By 2002, the six most globally active water companies ran drinking water distribution networks in at least 56 countries, up from 12 in 1990. Yet private companies still run only about 5% of the world's waterworks.
In 1989, Blair wrote, "The major utilities - gas, water, electricity and the oil, postal and telecommunications networks - are uniquely important to the national economy. Their operations underpin the rest of industry. We believe that the great utilities must be treated as public services and should be owned by the public - by the community as a whole."
Public utilities offer better, cheaper and fairer water services than private firms. Countries need to keep water in public hands, under democratic control.
NEVER AGAIN.......2004-12-20
This was, without question, one of the most depressing and boring books that I have ever read. I made the mistake of choosing this book for an analytical book report, and found it to be the most depressing choice I could have made. I wouldn't even reccommend this book to my worst enemy.
Addresses Threats to Our Most Valuable Global Resource.......2004-05-17
This was a great book that highlights the current threats to our global water supply. This book was particularly thorough in the analysis of the privatization of water resources. It explains the international institutions that prop up global water companies. I was very impressed with the extensive research that the authors must have put into this book - they used many examples of water issues from around the world. This book is a great introductory book for someone interested in becoming more knowledgable in water issues. It is also a great book for the general public to help them to understand more about a resource they probably take for granted. Don't buy bottled water! It is environmentally wasteful of resources and economically unjustifiable. It contributes funds to private companies and helps to support global water corporations!
Pirating our Water Supply.......2003-05-22
Blue Gold's a book to let you know more about where your water in America is going. Can we stop this theft of our most valuable resource. A study reports huge corporations seeking control of the world's water supply. These involve giant European corporations in collaboration with the World Bank. Together increasingly taking control of public water supplies with tragic results. a report 'The Water Barons' says that by 2002 private water companies were operating in 56 countries and 2 territories. This rose from a dozen in 1990. Companies that are expanding control are Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux and Vivendi Environment of France, Thomas Water by RWEAG of Germany, Suar of France and United Utilities of England working with Bechtel Co. of the United States. All of these have worked closely with the World Bank. They lobby aggressively for legislation and trade laws to require cities to privatize their water. A recent update is that these companies continue in their acquisition to control water companies in the Northeastern U.S. region.
In major cities around the world, they persuade governments to sign long-term contracts with major private water companies. The concern, is that a handful of private companies could soon control a tremendous bulk of the world's most vital resource. Are water barons providing a good product? One certain city in the U.S. cancelled it's water contract because of complaints of poor service and unsanitary water conditions. In other countries and poorer countries were unable to pay huge water bills were forced to drink from disease-ridden lakes and streams resulting the spread of deadly epidemic outbreaks such as chlorea. In regions of the U.S. where ground water isn't enough to support domestic and fire protection water needs. It's necessary to develop alternative sources of water. The water crisis is worldwide. Many countries are facing a severe shortage. Some will run out of water by the year 2011. Can we find alternative ways to conserve our greatest resource. And, in the meantime can we stop the railroading of public water to greedy giant corporate barons. This book is a eye-opener. Another good reading on this subject is, 'Cadillac Desert.'
Threats to Blue Gold.......2002-08-31
There are not many surprises in BLUE GOLD. The primary message of Maud Barlow and Tony Clarke's book echoes the Blue Planet Project, a global campaign to assert the universal right to water, of which Barlow is one of the international leaders. It is the 'battle against the corporate world' - here in particular the 'theft of the world's water'. Of course, it is not so much a 'theft' of water - the world's water supply has been more or less stable since the beginning of time - rather the increasing control by a small group of multinationals over the water's allocation to the peoples of this planet.
Consequently, the strength of the book is in its coverage of the multi-national corporations, the 'Global Water Lords', and the exposure of their expanding power over water delivery and processing systems around the globe. Initiatives to privatize water delivery at a national level probably started with Napoleon III in France in the middle of the 19th century. At that time, governments were usually in charge of water management. Since then privatization has spread from France to the rest of the world. Today, Barlow and Clarke maintain, some 10 corporate players dominate the global water industry. Two French companies hold the lion's share. Most of these major players are multi-utility providers, which increase their hold on the water resources of countries and regions. Once a government opens a door to privatization of any of the water related services, such as water delivery or waste management, it abandons its right to take back control at any stage even if water user groups complain about bad or no service or the company does not live up to the contract. The rules and regulations of the WTO see to that, the authors claim. Although the percentage of national water systems controlled by multi-national corporations at the present time is small, Barlow and Clarke want to warn of the trend and its implication.
Examples are described where things have gone wrong: poor quality of project implementation resulted in water pollution and environmental damage, and/or communities and local business lost the water supply altogether. In these instances corporate water suppliers maintained their profit margin through cutting back in previously promised investments and/or increasing consumer rates. The latter was implemented without any regard to the capacity of the poor to pay. As a result, they could be cut off from the service.
Barlow and Clarke's analysis of the progression of the global water crisis and its origins is less satisfactory. A reader unfamiliar with complex topic of water might find the tour d'horizon overwhelming. The review of the diversity of root causes at local, national and regional levels is superficial and tends to present generalizations where concrete examples would have been more meaningful. The tendency to paint a black and white picture with big business as the main villain sidelines other major reasons for water crises around the world. Agriculture is only mentioned in passing, although some 70% of all water resources are used by agriculture: agribusiness and millions of small-scale and mid-size farmers across industrialized and developing countries. Implementing water conservation methods (through improved irrigation, drought tolerant crops, etc) could lead to substantial water resource savings.
Recent initiatives against global corporate water control highlighted in the section 'Fightback' are selective, emphasizing well-known international as well as North American cases. The approach is usually confrontational with clearly identified opposing sides. Examples of constructive multi-stakeholder collaboration efforts in many parts of the world which attempt to tackle water scarcity are not given enough recognition.
The 'Way Forward' spells out fundamental principles and recommends a series of standards that should be included in any agreement of public-private partnerships in the water delivery sphere. These include the involvement of water users in the planning of the systems, local stewardship and watershed protection, strengthen water preservation and reclaiming of polluted water systems. Underlying all these standards is the recognition of water as an essential part of life and the right of all beings to water whatever their social or economic status. A call for capacity building and education of consumers, communities, government officials and private sector actors at all levels should be added.
BLUE GOLD is an easy read, maybe for some too easy considering the seriousness of the topic. It covers very important ground, often in an overview fashion that tends to generalize and take a black and white stand. Although it is obvious that the authors did comprehensive research in preparation of the book, it shows a certain lack of thoroughness by not providing citation references (footnotes), adequate source listings and a bibliography or reading list.
Book Description
This book adds to the environmental politics and policy literature by conducting a comprehensive investigation of business influence in agenda building and environmental policymaking in the United States over time. As part of this investigation, the author presents an analysis of six cases in which private firms were involved in disputes concerning pollution control and natural resource management.
In addition to determining how much business interests influence environmental and natural resource policy, the book tests possible explanations for their level of success in shaping the government's agenda and policy. The study offers a general conceptual framework for analyzing the influence of corporate America over environmental policymaking. The research then explores how much firms have influenced Congress, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and certain natural resource agencies, and the courts on environmental and natural issues since the beginning of the environmental movement in 1970. No other study has examined the ability of business to influence environmental policy in all three branches of government and in such detail.
Average customer rating:
- Exhaustive and Brilliant
- Excerpts of Various Reviews
- A seminal work about globalization
- Kirkus Review of THE CORPORATE PLANET sucks
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The Corporate Planet: Ecology and Politics in the Age of Globalization
Joshua Karliner
Manufacturer: Sierra Club Books
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Global Spin
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Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics
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Earthsummit.Biz: The Corporate Takeover of Sustainable Development
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Plundering Paradise: The Struggle for the Environment in the Philippines
ASIN: 0871564343 |
Book Description
From the Tokyo timber terminal, where Japanese conglomerates process rain-forest logs from around the world, to India, China, and Brazil, where global chemical and automobile concerns are rapidly setting up shop, transnationals have made their presence felt in nearly every nation on Earth.
Joshua Karliner brilliantly exposes how transnationals, aided by free trade agreements and World Bank policies, are leading protagonists in the world's most pressing environmental dramas. He takes the reader behind the scenes of the global public-relations companies that launch elaborate campaigns to encourage rampant consumerism as well as to create "green" images for major polluters.
With lively case histories of Chevron, the company that the late Nigerian activist Ken Saro-Wiwa identified, with Shell, as the most serious environmental threat to the Niger River Delta, and the Mitsubishi Group, which continues to clear-cut vast swaths through aspen forests to produce 8 million pairs of disposable chopsticks every day, The Corporate Planet offers frightening documentation of the central role transnationals play in environmental destruction.
Arguing that transnational misdeeds can be overcome, Karliner recounts empowering stories of communities confronting the ill effects of corporate colonialism to create their own "grassroots globalization" movements. This important and timely book is a significant contribution to the battle against irresponsible corporate behavior.
Customer Reviews:
Exhaustive and Brilliant.......2003-07-27
Karliner has a rare eye for absurdity that makes this more than a mere indictment of corporations. His description of how Chevron pacified an indigenous tribe in Papua New Guinea--by creating a Disneyland recreation of their own culture to impress them--is something so terrifying that no novelist could conceive it. He describes how, years later, the tribe had changed their traditional war paint to mimic the Chevron logo. This isn't just a dry treatise on the perils of globalization. It's a book filled with color, stories, and fascinating details about this bizarre time in the world. From the smell of gasoline seeping up through the richest homes in Playa Del Rey, California, to the history of Standard Oil, to the fight over the forests in the Northwest, to the structure of Japanese corporations--Karliner's book is an overlooked masterpiece that details so many unexpected facets of the global economy.
Excerpts of Various Reviews.......2003-05-29
Here are some excerpts from other reviews of The Corporate Planet
Thoughtful analysis of globalization's ecological and social impacts and of efforts by "corporate environmentalists" to control how problems and solutions are defined....With ecological sustainability, social justice, and democratic participation as his guiding principles, Karliner celebrates "grassroots globalization"--citizens demanding responsible environmental behavior from global corporations--becoming stronger and more articulate around the world.
-- Booklist
A fine effort....The book reads easily, without being breezy, moving from concrete illustrations of how giant global corporations are affecting the lives of ordinary people to more abstract discussion of underlying issues.
--The Ecologist
In The Corporate Planet, [Joshua Karliner] explains how transnational corporations like Dow clean up their image rather than their act.
--The Nation
A Magellan-like journey around the globe, giving readers a guided tour that identifies the protectors and poisoners of planet Earth.
--Monthly Review
A thoughtful examination of the new international balance of power in the global economy.
--San Francisco Bay Guardian
A seminal work about globalization.......2002-11-03
Joshua Karliner's "The Corporate Planet" was published prior to the Seattle WTO protests. The book's expert analysis of the relationship between private corporations and the plundering of the earth's resources successfully contextualized the protests as few other books written at that time were able.
Since then of course, many have written about globalization and its effects. But I think Karliner's work continues to stand out from the pack and has in fact gained strength as events continue to unfold. The ascendancy of the pro-oil industry Bush administration and its strident anti-environmentalist agenda seems to confirm his thesis: namely, that corporations and their elected cronies (or unelected cronies, in Bush's case) often proclaim themselves to be environmentally friendly on the one hand while simultaneously rolling back environmental protections on the other.
When push comes to shove, the quest to accumulate profits wins over the environment. Karliner does an excellent job of showing how corporate PR or "greenwash" and corporate sustainable development initiatives provide smokescreens for doing business as usual. But when given the opportunity, Karliner documents how companies such as Chevron lobby hard to roll back protections when given a favorable political situation like the one that existed when Republicans gained control of Congress in the mid-1990s.
The author supports his theory by effectively using case studies to illustrate how these dynamics play out in the real world. Large corporations such as Mitsubishi use their economic power to bend governments and citizens to their will, in the process impoverishing communities and environments as local resources are stripped away for the benefit of distant investors.
Karliner proposes a number of remedies that can help turn the situation around. He reasons that greater democratic input and corporate acocuntability is badly needed if we want people and the environment to be given primacy over the rights of the privileged few to reap the rewards of globalization for themselves. While Karliner may not have detailed a specified course of action -- no single person could be expected to do that -- it seems obvious that he has successfully defined the parameters of the struggle.
Intelligently written and supplemented with numerous footnotes and statistics, I believe it is not too much to say that "The Corporate Planet" is a classic work. I strongly recommended it for those who want to learn more about globalization and the central role corporations are playing in the destruction of the environment.
Kirkus Review of THE CORPORATE PLANET sucks.......1997-12-09
Globalization is, obviously, a complicated, misunderstood, and nuanced process. And while THE CORPORATE PLANET is not the last word on that process, or on the dynamics by which corporations are emerging as key shapers of that process, it is also true that it tells stories far too often ignored by Quisslings, diplomats, and book reviewers. I write this because I stumbled across the Kirkus review printed on THE CORPORATE PLANET's page here, and it pissed me off. Particularly irritating is the use of the word "shrill," an adjective that seems reserved for books which contest the common optimism that tells us that radicalism is impractical and unnecessary, and that we need not attend too much to the really dangerous corners of the Big Picture. More statistics? Karliner already has LOTS of statistics here. And if his book is "unhelpful" when it comes to suggesting political alternatives, this may be in part because such alternatives are still unclear, and thus necessarily difficult to spell out in specific form. The corporation is the dominant political form of the modern age, and a principle engine of ecological destruction. In such circumstances, just what kind of an "alternative" does one appeal to? In fact, there are some good ideas here, and some good stories too, important stories well chosen. The emergence of the true transnational corporation is one of the most important development in recent human history. If you wish to know what all the shouting is about, you could do worse than start here.
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Trust in Cooperative Risk Management: Uncertainty and Scepticism in the Public Mind (Earthscan Risk and Society Series)
Michael Siegrist
Manufacturer: Earthscan Publications Ltd.
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ASIN: 1844074242 |
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In a world of growing complexity and dwindling resources, how we control and regulate technology and its impacts is an increasingly pressing issue of concern at the highest levels. This book examines the relationship between sustainability, technology and governance, and is the first to link innovation and technology studies research with governance research, applying them to the problem of sustainability. Included are contributions from internationally known environmental social scientists, with each chapter report on new research.
Drawing on examples such as wave and tidal power, community waste recycling and eco-housing, the book provides new and important insights into the governance of technology for sustainability. The editor provides a detailed introduction and conclusion in which he discusses existing research directions and identifies the contribution that the book makes to furthering the study of the technology-society interface and the governance of the technology itself.
Average customer rating:
- A book to explore like an ancient forest...
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Earth for Sale: Reclaiming Ecology in the Age of Corporate Greenwash
Brian Tokar
Manufacturer: South End Press
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The Ecology of Commerce
ASIN: 0896085570 |
Customer Reviews:
A book to explore like an ancient forest... .......2006-09-17
In "Earth for Sale", social ecologist Brian Tokar brilliantly exposes the co-opting of mainstream environmental organizations by corporate interests,then outlines alternative strategies and theories for preserving the earth. Activists involved in environmental justice campaigns, organic agriculture and/or forest issues will glean much wisdom from this intelligent book. Importantly, like Murray Bookchin, Brian Tokar does not pit labor against the trees, but instead offers a holistic vision of ecological and economic solidarity, thus healing the rupture between human communities and the land.
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