The Gnat Is Older than Man : : Global Environment and Human Agenda / / Christopher D. Stone.

• VerfasserIn: Stone, Christopher D.,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2023]; 1993
• Year of Publication: 2023
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (367 p.)

Why are globe-spanning environmental problems on the rise and what can be done about them? Christopher Stone presents a concise and balanced overview of the risks, from climate change and ozone depletion to deforestation and biodiversity loss. Exploring the institutional framework, Stone shows why global problems do not always benefit from "global solutions," how environmental diplomacy has to account for the growing tensions between rich and poor nations, and why even checking population growth would not heal the planet. Stone's latest work, at once theoretical and realistic, is a major contribution to our understanding of one of humanity's greatest challenges.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- CHAPTER I Diagnosis: The Earth Has Cancer, and the Cancer Is Man -- In the Doctor's Judgment -- Diagnosis at Rio -- A Second, Less Foreboding Opinion -- Prognosis: Social Choice in the Face of Uncertainty -- CHAPTER II The Condition of the Earth from the Legal Perspective -- Astronaut and Diplomat -- A Nation's Abuse of Its Own Environment -- CHAPTER III Transboundary Pollution -- Introduction -- The Preventive Techniques -- The Reactive Techniques -- Consensual Transboundary Pollution -- Summary -- CHAPTER IV Managing the Global Commons -- Introduction -- A Nation's "Internal" Activities Damaging the Commons -- A Nation's Activities on the Commons Damaging the Commons -- A Nation's Activities on the Commons Damaging Another Nation -- CHAPTER V Treaties as Antidotes -- The Virtues of a Treaty-Based Approach -- The Impediments to Treaty Formation -- Under What Circumstances are International Negotiations Likely to Succeed? -- Conclusion -- CHAPTER VI The Economist's Prescriptions: Taxes and Tradable Permits -- Introduction -- The Economic Ideal -- Institutionalizing the Economic Ideal -- Pro Rata Cutbacks -- Effluent Taxes -- Tradable Emissions Permits -- Conclusion -- CHAPTER VII Medicating the Earth: Preventatives and Remedies -- Introduction -- Need Our Responses Be Fully Global? -- Is Prevention Better than Cure? -- The Deferred, Go-It-Alone Policy as a Second-Best Strategy -- A Review of the Home-Grown Remedies -- The New Generation of Legislation -- CHAPTER VIII Taking Out Calamity Insurance -- Introduction -- The Application of Conventional Insurance to Climate Change -- Modes of Government Participation -- The International Precedents and Prospects -- Alternative "Insurance" -- CHAPTER IX Paying the Bills: Toward a Global Commons Trust Fund -- Introduction -- The Global Financing Options -- The Global Commons Trust Fund -- Financing Options in the Light of Domestic Policy Alternatives -- The Virtues and Vices of Global Funds: The Donors versus the "Democrats" -- Conclusion -- CHAPTER X The Spiritual and Moral Dimensions ofthe Environmental Crisis: OfHumankind and Gnats -- The Spiritual Roots of the Environmental Crisis -- The Moral Dimensions -- What Does an Environmental Ethic Aim For? -- The Arguments against an Environmental Ethic -- The Burdens an Environmental Ethic Faces -- One Further Level of Abstraction: The Metaphysical Underpinnings -- Notes -- Index to Topics and Institutions -- Index to Authors -- Index to Conventions -- Index to Legal Cases