Barriers to a Better Environment: What Stops Us Solving Environmental Problems? Book

Environmental concerns dominate political debates yet progress to their solution is frequently frustratingly slow, and too often environmentally-beneficial policies are diverted, obstructed or aborted for economic, social, political or cultural reasons. Improving the environment involves more than winning simple arguments: the committed environmentalist must understand the complex web of social interaction as well as the functioning of national systems. In this essay, the author, an experienced writer on conservation and ecology, proposes a new framework for thinking about environmental issues and how to tackle them. Using original graphics, and a new typology, he identifies the nature, operation and interrelationship of barriers to environmental betterment, and illustrates this argument from real world examples including soil erosion, the ozone hole and pollution. This is both an analysis of the current environmental crisis and an agenda for future action.Read More