How to use this Page

While the recent climate change legislation passed in the House of Representatives represents the first time Congress has approved a bill targeted at global warming, its passage does not come without controversy. The focus of the bill is a cap-and-trade system in which the total amount of emission pollution is capped and companies can trade pollution permits. Over time, the cap decreases, theoretically driving up the cost of emissions and encouraging companies to develop cleaner technologies’; however, the system has been criticized as a tax by Republicans.

In his book A Question of Balance, William Nordhaus seeks out a solution to the problems of climate change through economic analysis. He provides a thorough breakdown of the costs and benefits of a variety of policy options. The economic models that he uses provide insight into the complexity of the problem and the difficulty in finding a solution. We hope Nordhaus' next book will detail ways to avoid the wasteful "compromises, carve-outs, concessions and out-and-out gifts" that seem to accompany the passage of every bill.

There are lots of great ways to celebrate Earth Day. Bike to work, recycle, or show off your green thumb and plant a tree, like our commander-in-chief. But, in our minds, there's no better way to celebrate Mother Earth than learning more about her through a good book.

When it comes to saving the planet, few people know more than James Gustave Speth, co-founder of the NRDC and dean of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University. In his book The Bridge at the Edge of the World, Speth argues that modern capitalism's obsession with consumption and GDP growth has gone too far, now causing more harm—to environment, social fabric, and world security—than good. His bold plan is laid out in this inspired book, which is now available in paperback. And fear not, defenders of poor, defenseless trees! Speth's book is printed on acid free recycled paper with vegetable based ink.

Though environmental appreciation through the written word is all well and good, a picture contains a thousand words, or in Robert Poole's case, an entire book. Poole's book, Earthrise: How Man First Saw the Earth, takes the iconic "blue marble" photographs from NASA's Apollo missions as a starting point and tells the elaborate and surprising story of how these images came to be. From an environmentalist perspective, the photographs of Earth represented a turning point, Poole contends. In a strange way, we had to leave the planet to turn our focus back toward Earth, our beautiful and fragile home.

Matthew Klingle's book, Emerald City, tells the story of a community that has managed to weave together seamlessly its natural beauty and urban development. In this award-winning book, Klingle explores the role of nature in the development of the city of Seattle from the earliest days of its settlement to the present day, showing how this Pacific Northwest metropolis can be a model for our nation's greening cities.

Finally, for all you literary green freaks, check out an Earth Day/Poetry Month double-whammy, Can Poetry Save the Earth? by John Felstiner and Janet Malcolm's arrestingly beautiful collection of botanical portraits in her photographic work, Burdock. And, once again, happy Earth Day!

This month's issue of E/The Environmental Magazine, features an interview with Yale Press author and Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies dean Gus Speth. Drawing upon his arguments in The Bridge at the Edge of the World, Speth proposes a serious shift in the way we think about today's environmental movement:

You can read a complete transcript of the interview here.

U.S. Governors and top environmental officials will meet tomorrow here at Yale University to exchange ideas on how states and the federal government can combat global warming and develop a strategy for future action.

The gathering, organized in part by Yale Press author Gus Speth, will also celebrate the centennial of President Theodore Roosevelt’s landmark 1908 Conference of Governors, which launched the modern conservation movement, planted the seed for the National Parks System, and inspired significant state efforts to protect land.

Dean of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and author of The Bridge at the Edge of the World, Speth collaborated with other Yale organizations and state officials to commemorate that landmark 1908 conference. Last night at 8pm, Speth introduced keynote speakers Theodore Roosevelt IV and Gifford Pinchot III, the descendants of the original organizers of that 1908 conference.

The author of Red Sky at Morning would be the first to agree that we are in deep environmental trouble, but he offers hope that there is still time to avert global catastrophe. Gus Speth explores a wide variety of promising and even radical ideas for transforming modern capitalism so as to protect and restore the natural world.

For more information on this conference, click here. To keep on top of more of Speth's events, visit the author's website Bridge At the Edge of the World.com.

Click here to listen to an interview with Gus Speth on the Yale Press Podcast.

In his Findings column for the New York Times, John Tierney wonders why Americans aren't changing their lives in reaction to climate change. "We need the right nudge," Tierney says, referring to the recent release from Yale Press authors Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein, Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness.

Taking a cue from Thaler and Sunstein, Tierney suggests a piece of jewelry that measures the wearer's carbon footprint and displays it to the world on a scale from red to green. Writing a blog post for TierneyLab, Tierney nudged his readers to help him out with this project: "Do you have a better name, or a better nudge of kind? The best suggestion will be rewarded with a copy of Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard H. Thaler and Cass Sunstein of the University of Chicago." Click here to read the entire post or enter the contest.

For more information about nudges, check out Nudge or the website for the book, www.nudges.org, with news, reviews, a blog and even a glossary.