Natural assets : democratizing environmental ownership / edited by James K. Boyce and Barry G. Shelley ; foreword by Melvin Oliver.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Boyce, James K.

Shelley, Barry G.

University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Natural Assets Project.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Environmental justice.

Environmental protection.

Conservation of natural resources.

Physical Description:

xvii, 332 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Washington, DC : Island Press, [2003]

Summary:

Low-income communities frequently suffer from a lack of access to, or lack of control over, the natural resources that surround them. In many cases, their local environment has been degraded by years of resource extraction and pollution by distant corporations or government agencies. In such settings, initiatives that build natural assets in the hands of the poor can play an important role in poverty-fighting efforts.

Natural Assets explores a range of strategies for expanding the quantity and enhancing the quality of natural assets in the hands of low-income individuals and communities. The book:

- examines the social construction of rights to natural resources and the environment- describes efforts to curtail pollution of the air, land, and water and to reclaim resources that have been appropriated and abused by polluters- considers sustainable agricultural practices that not only maintain but actually increase the stock of natural capital- explores strategies to promote sustainable forest management while reducing rural poverty- examines the prospects for building natural assets in urban areas

Drawing on evidence from across the United States, the authors demonstrate that safeguarding the environment and improving the well-being of the poor can be mutually reinforcing goals.

Contents:

Part I. The Wealth of Nature 5

1. From Natural Resources to Natural Assets / James K. Boyce 7

2. "A Question of Degree": The Sanctity of Property in American Economic History / Gerald Friedman 29

Part II. Reclaiming Environmental Sinks 55

3. Reclaiming Brownfields: From Corporate Liability to Community Asset / K. A. Dixon 57

4. Building Social Capital to Protect Natural Capital: The Quest for Environmental Justice / Manuel Pastor 77

5. Defending the Public Domain: Pollution, Subsidies, and Poverty / Paul Templet 99

6. Information for Empowerment: The EPA's Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators Project / Nicolaas W. Bouwes, Steven M. Hassur, Marc D. Shapiro 117

7. The Sky Trust: The Battle for Atmospheric Scarcity Rent / Peter Barnes, Marc Breslow 135

Part III. Cultivating Natural Capital 151

8. White Earth: Recovering a Homeland / Winona LaDuke 153

9. The Watershed Commonwealth of the Upper Rio Grande / Devon G. Pena 169

10. The Lighthouse and the Potato: Internalizing the Value of Crop Genetic Diversity / Stephen B. Brush 187

Part IV. Out of the Woods 207

11. Values, Markets, and Rights: Rebuilding Forest Ecosystem Assets / Constance Best 209

12. Land and Livelihoods in the Northern Forest / Deborah Brighton 227

13. Community-Based Stewardship: Reinvesting in Public Forests and Forest Communities / Cecilia Danks 243

Part V. Greening the Cities 261

14. Can Natural Assets Help Address Urban Poverty? / Greg Watson 263

15. The Chelsea River: Democratizing Access to Nature in a World of Cities / H. Patricia Hynes 277

16. Poverty and the Environment: The Urban Agriculture Connection / Raquel Pinderhughes 299.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

155963538X

1559635398

OCLC:

51264823