The sustainability mirage [electronic resource] : illusion and reality in the coming war on climate change / John Foster.

"Sustainable development's attempted deal between present and future will always collapse under the pressure of 'now' because the needs of the present always win out. Inevitably, this means movable targets and action that will always fall short of what we need. Ultimately, sustai...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Online Access: Full Text (via Taylor & Francis)
Main Author: Foster, John (John Michael), 1949-
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:English
Published: London ; Sterling, VA : Earthscan, 2008.
Subjects:
Description
Summary:"Sustainable development's attempted deal between present and future will always collapse under the pressure of 'now' because the needs of the present always win out. Inevitably, this means movable targets and action that will always fall short of what we need. Ultimately, sustainable development is the pursuit of a mirage, the politics of never getting there." "To escape the illusion, we must break through to a new way of understanding sustainability by focusing on the deep needs of the present, not slippery obligations to the future. Rising to the carbon challenge now, not trying to micro-manage the longer term. Looking to the science for orders of magnitude and direction, not a game-plan. Harnessing the short-term dynamics of capitalism to the cause of learning our way forward." "This book outlines an alternative to the mainstream and offers the kind of bold new thinking on energy usage, governance, education and the role of enterprise that we need to win the coming war on climate change."--Jacket.
Physical Description:1 online resource (xix, 170 pages)
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references (pages 157-163) and index.
ISBN:9781136551963
1136551964
9781849773300
1849773300
9781136551918
1136551913
9781136551956
1136551956