If you feel that Barrack Obama is not even close to solving this economic crisis, then take a look at Nick Robins' The Ecology of Growth. His British-slanted review of a half-dozen authors offers a cogent summary of green macroeconomics.
1. We need significantly better measures of economic performance. GNP and GDP are woefully inadequate for the 21st century.
2. We need to scale up "investments in resource efficiency, clean technologies, and ecosystem enhancement." Industrialized nations spend 15-20% of their GDP on ...health and education but spend less than a tenth of this on their "environmental foundation."
3. We need to dethrone growth and consumerism as the economy's organizing principle. It makes much more sense to lower per capita incomes and income inequality. Above per capita incomes of $15,000, "life satisfaction barely changes" among countries with higher levels of income. We could start this process by shifting work hours to a 21-hour week.
I have been teaching Geography and Environmental Studies at Long Island University since 1993. I taught at LIU’s Southampton College and, more recently, the C.W. Post Campus. Most of my activities at LIU have related to sustainable development. In 2007 I initiated the Long Island Climate Solutions Network, http://www.licsn.org.
Fossil Fuel
ScottCarlin
