ONLINE SEMINAR INVITATION AND BOOK DISCOUNT OFFER
(please post and circulate)
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Here's your chance to go online and talk about one of the most
powerful and exciting ideas around on how to save the planet.
The Worldwatch Institute has just released The Natural Wealth
of Nations: Harnessing the Market for the Environment. You can
buy the book at a discount and talk with the author in a free,
global on-line discussion starting in just three weeks--
October 15-22.
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"...a must-have guidebook to the policies and politics for
putting markets to work to protect our world instead of
destroying it."
-- Lester Brown, President, Worldwatch Institute
"Building on years of research at the Worldwatch Institute,
and his own insight, David Roodman carefully develops some of
the ecological economic policies needed to economize on and
develop The Natural Wealth of Nations."
-- Herman Daly, ecological economist, University of Maryland
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WHAT IT'S ABOUT
In The Natural Wealth of Nations, Worldwatch Institute Senior
Researcher David Roodman calls on governments to fundamentally
reorient how they raise and spend money in order to protect
the earth. The proposals seem like commonsense--but are sure
to rile established interests.
First, he argues, governments need to slash $650 billion in
obsolete subsidies for environmentally destructive activities
like clearcutting and driving--which could pay for a $2,000
tax cut for every family of four in the United States, Japan
or Germany.
Of course governments offer most of these subsidies with the
best of intentions--stimulating development, protecting jobs,
aiding the poor. But almost all, Roodman asserts, are
obsolete, ineffective, grossly inefficient, or self-defeating.
To keep old coal mines competitive and preserve jobs, he
points out, Germany spends $86,000 per miner each year in
subsidies. It would be cheaper now to shut down the mines and
pay miners not to work.
Second, the book argues that governments need to shift an
additional $1.5 trillion a year in taxes, by jacking up levies
on pollution and resource waste, and using the money to cut
taxes on work and investment.
Roodman says, "Unless we stop subsidizing environmental harm
and start taxing it, we will never save the planet.... Solving
problems like global warming--slashing fossil fuel use--will
take changes in where we live, how we move about, and how we
make everything from bottles to buildings. No government can
plan all that. Only if we make prices tell the ecological
truth can we harness the power of the market for the
environment."
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ADD YOUR VOICE
Do you agree? Disagree? Join David and other distinguished
guests starting three weeks from now (October 15-22) for a
lively discussion--conducted by e-mail--of David's new book
and other issues of critical importance to the survival of
this planet.
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AS A SPECIAL OFFER FOR PARTICIPANTS ONLY, you can buy The
Natural Wealth of Nations at 20 percent off the regular price.
To take advantage of this offer and join the debate, visit
http://csf.colorado.edu/sustainable-economics/natural-wealth.html.
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To read more about The Natural Wealth of Nations, go to
http://www.worldwatch.org/alerts/pr980912.html.
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To learn more about Communications for a Sustainable Future
and the Worldwatch Institute (the event's sponsors), visit
http://csf.colorado.edu and http://www.worldwatch.org.
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Questions? E-mail [log in to unmask]
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