The Green Republic

The Green Republic
Author: Sterling Evans
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2010-06-28
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0292789289

With over 25 percent of its land set aside in national parks and other protected areas, Costa Rica is renowned worldwide as "the green republic." In this very readable history of conservation in Costa Rica, Sterling Evans explores the establishment of the country's national park system as a response to the rapid destruction of its tropical ecosystems due to the expansion of export-related agriculture. Drawing on interviews with key players in the conservation movement, as well as archival research, Evans traces the emergence of a conservation ethic among Costa Ricans and the tangible forms it has taken. In Part I, he describes the development of the national park system and "the grand contradiction" that conservation occurred simultaneously with massive deforestation in unprotected areas. In Part II, he examines other aspects of Costa Rica's conservation experience, including the important roles played by environmental education and nongovernmental organizations, campesino and indigenous movements, ecotourism, and the work of the National Biodiversity Institute.

The Ecolaboratory

The Ecolaboratory
Author: Robert Fletcher
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2020-03-17
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 081654011X

Despite its tiny size and seeming marginality to world affairs, the Central American republic of Costa Rica has long been considered an important site for experimentation in cutting-edge environmental policy. From protected area management to ecotourism to payment for environmental services (PES) and beyond, for the past half-century the country has successfully positioned itself at the forefront of novel trends in environmental governance and sustainable development. Yet the increasingly urgent dilemma of how to achieve equitable economic development in a world of ecosystem decline and climate change presents new challenges, testing Costa Rica’s ability to remain a leader in innovative environmental governance. This book explores these challenges, how Costa Rica is responding to them, and the lessons this holds for current and future trends regarding environmental governance and sustainable development. It provides the first comprehensive assessment of successes and challenges as they play out in a variety of sectors, including agricultural development, biodiversity conservation, water management, resource extraction, and climate change policy. By framing Costa Rica as an “ecolaboratory,” the contributors in this volume examine the lessons learned and offer a path for the future of sustainable development research and policy in Central America and beyond.

The Republic of Nature

The Republic of Nature
Author: Mark Fiege
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Total Pages: 601
Release: 2012-03-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 0295804149

In the dramatic narratives that comprise The Republic of Nature, Mark Fiege reframes the canonical account of American history based on the simple but radical premise that nothing in the nation's past can be considered apart from the natural circumstances in which it occurred. Revisiting historical icons so familiar that schoolchildren learn to take them for granted, he makes surprising connections that enable readers to see old stories in a new light. Among the historical moments revisited here, a revolutionary nation arises from its environment and struggles to reconcile the diversity of its people with the claim that nature is the source of liberty. Abraham Lincoln, an unlettered citizen from the countryside, steers the Union through a moment of extreme peril, guided by his clear-eyed vision of nature's capacity for improvement. In Topeka, Kansas, transformations of land and life prompt a lawsuit that culminates in the momentous civil rights case of Brown v. Board of Education. By focusing on materials and processes intrinsic to all things and by highlighting the nature of the United States, Fiege recovers the forgotten and overlooked ground on which so much history has unfolded. In these pages, the nation's birth and development, pain and sorrow, ideals and enduring promise come to life as never before, making a once-familiar past seem new. The Republic of Nature points to a startlingly different version of history that calls on readers to reconnect with fundamental forces that shaped the American experience. For more information, visit the author's website: http://republicofnature.com/

Nature's God: The Heretical Origins of the American Republic

Nature's God: The Heretical Origins of the American Republic
Author: Matthew Stewart
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 502
Release: 2014-07-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0393244318

Longlisted for the National Book Award. Where did the ideas come from that became the cornerstone of American democracy? America’s founders intended to liberate us not just from one king but from the ghostly tyranny of supernatural religion. Drawing deeply on the study of European philosophy, Matthew Stewart brilliantly tracks the ancient, pagan, and continental ideas from which America’s revolutionaries drew their inspiration. In the writings of Spinoza, Lucretius, and other great philosophers, Stewart recovers the true meanings of “Nature’s God,” “the pursuit of happiness,” and the radical political theory with which the American experiment in self-government began.

Green Encounters

Green Encounters
Author: Luis A. Vivanco
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2006-06-01
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0857456776

Since the 1970s and 1980s, Monte Verde, Costa Rica has emerged as one of the most renowned sites of nature conservation and ecotourism in Costa Rica, and some would argue, Latin America. It has received substantial attention in literature and media on tropical conservation, sustainable development, and tourism. Yet most of that analysis has uncritically evaluated the Monte Verde phenomenon, using celebratory language and barely scratching the surface of the many-faceted socio-cultural transformations provoked by and accompanying environmentalism. Because of its stature, Monte Verde represents an ideal case study to examine the socio-cultural and political complexities and dilemmas of practicing environmentalism in rural Costa Rica. Based on many years of close observation, this book offers rich and original material on the ongoing struggles between environmental activists and of collective and oppositional politics to Monte Verde’s new “culture of nature.”

The Mexican Republic

The Mexican Republic
Author: Stanley C. Green
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Pre
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2010-11-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 0822977095

Green offers a colorful acccount of the first decade of Mexican independence from Spain. He views the failed attempt to establish a strong republic and the subsequent civil war that plagued the young nation. From this first decade, two polarized factions emerged, one federalist and populist, the other attempted to keep much of the old order of authroitarianism and church power established under colonialism. The were to be called the Liberals and the Conservatives, who would vie for power over the next century.

The Green New Deal and the Future of Work

The Green New Deal and the Future of Work
Author: Craig Calhoun
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 237
Release: 2022-08-30
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0231556063

Catastrophic climate change overshadows the present and the future. Wrenching economic transformations have devastated workers and hollowed out communities. However, those fighting for jobs and those fighting for the planet have often been at odds. Does the world face two separate crises, environmental and economic? The promise of the Green New Deal is to tackle the threat of climate change through the empowerment of working people and the strengthening of democracy. In this view, the crisis of nature and the crisis of work must be addressed together—or they will not be addressed at all. This book brings together leading experts to explore the possibilities of the Green New Deal, emphasizing the future of work. Together, they examine transformations that are already underway and put forth bold new proposals that can provide jobs while reducing carbon consumption—building a world that is sustainable both economically and ecologically. Contributors also debate urgent questions: What is the value of a federal jobs program, or even a jobs guarantee? How do we alleviate the miseries and precarity of work? In key economic sectors, including energy, transportation, housing, agriculture, and care work, what kind of work is needed today? How does the New Deal provide guidance in addressing these questions, and how can a Green New Deal revive democracy? Above all, this book shows, the Green New Deal offers hope for a better tomorrow—but only if it accounts for work’s past transformations and shapes its future.

River Republic

River Republic
Author: Daniel McCool
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 410
Release: 2012
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0231161301

Daniel McCool chronicles the surging grassroots movement to bring America's rivers back to life and ensure they remain pristine for future generations. This book confirms the surprising news that America's rivers are indeed returning to a healthier, free-flowing condition. Through passion and dedication, ordinary people are reclaiming the American landscape, forming a nation-wide "river republic" of concerned citizens from all backgrounds and sectors of society. McCool profiles the individuals he calls "instigators," who initiated the fight for these waterways and have succeeded in the near-impossible task of challenging and changing the status quo. He ties the history, culture, and fate of America to its rivers and presents their restoration as a microcosm mirroring American beliefs, livelihoods, and an increasing awareness of our shared environmental fate.

The New Green Republic

The New Green Republic
Author: Roy Morrison
Publisher: Waterside Productions
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2021-12-06
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9781951805883

The New Green Republic explores the shape of building an ecological civilization. The New Green Republic examines a successful response to the self-destructive excesses of industrial civilization. It presents the development of a global ecological civilization as a healing response on a global scale for the successful pursuit of ecological ends. This is a social order where economic growth means ecological improvement and the regeneration of natural capital. Ecological economic growth rests on the pursuit of sustainability aimed at a global convergence on sustainability and prosperity for all. It means trillions dollars of in investments in a sustainable future. The New Green Republic examines crucial political, economic, technical, philosophical dynamics of an ecological civilization, a civilization we must build as we travel from industrial business as usual to a sustainable prosperity. The New Green Republic considers the nature and basis of such a system where the pursuit of social and ecological justice is integral to its success, and where fiduciary responsibility means both the regeneration of natural capital and the growth of finance capital. The New Green Republic will examine valuing and monetizing sustainability for its essential worth and prod for ecological economic growth. Sustainability Credits (SCs) will be created by the displacement by renewables of one metric ton of carbon dioxide emissions valued by the National Academy of Sciences at $100. SCs will be monetized on the books of investment banks as paid in capital and as cash. We will see how SCs can generate the $50 trillion estimated by Morgan Chace needed to finance investment in global renewable energy transformation from 2020 to 2050. The New Green Republic recognizes that sustainability as self-conscious human intention is now part of the fundamental co-evolutionary dynamic of sustainability. Sustainability in action means life in response to all influences evolves to help maintain the biosphere as maximally suitable for all life. This is a virtuous circle of coevolutionary call and response. As the ecosphere changes, life changes, and on and on. This basic dynamic has enabled life to survive periodic mass extinction and once again thrive. A Green Republic rests on three key pillars. First, sustainable global economic growth as the regeneration of natural capital along with the growth of finance capital. Second, the pursuit of social and ecological justice that includes global technology and capital transfer from rich to poor for investment in the renewable energy and sustainability infrastructure. Third, the continued and successful transformation of a global war system to a peace system supported by the global pursuit of social and ecological justice and a global ecological growth strategy. History and future prospects did not end with the triumph of liberal corporate capitalism over Soviet communism. The challenge of the 21st century and beyond is building a global ecological civilization from industrial business as usual. A Green Republic is a venue for such grand transformation. The book is intended to inspire discussion and action.