Hi All, In addition to Paul's list, there are a number of books that I use to talk about optimism in my sustainability classes. As he notes in the above examples, they are often Pollyannish. However, others are reasonably clear-eyed. I use Gregg Easterbrook's "The Progress Paradox" and Pinker's "Enlightenment Now". For interesting reads that often frustrate, there is Ridley's "Rational Optimist" and Diamandis's "Abundance".
Also, if you haven't seen the research program "Seeds of a Good Anthropocene" from McGill University and Stockholm Resilience Center, it's worth taking a look (https://goodanthropocenes.net/). Hope that this is helpful. Mike Associate Professor School of Sustainability Arizona State University https://michaelschoon.com/ On Sun, Apr 7, 2019 at 5:28 AM Paul Wapner <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Beth, > > > > Perhaps the challenge of finding such a list rests on interpretation. > Many thinkers see good news everywhere, especially with environmental > trends. Folks like Bjorn Lomborg, Johan Norberg, Ronald Bailey, Deirdre > McCloskey, and Anders Bolling are always presenting ‘facts’ that > demonstrate environmental improvement. Their work is controversial but > persuasive to many. It is part of a broader orientation that tends to be > optimistic about humanity’s fate, seeing ‘progress’ everywhere. I would > put people like Steven Pinker, Hans Rosling, and the infamous Juliann Simon > in this category. The New York Times Book Review recently had a piece on > Pinker and Rosling > > > https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2019/02/07/pinker-rosling-progress-accentuate-positive/. > > > > > Aside from thinkers, there are a number of outfits that present ‘good’ > environmental news, such as > https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/category/news/environment/, although I am > unsure if they track broad trends. > > > > All the best, > > Paul > > > > > > Paul Wapner > > Professor, Global Environmental Politics > > School of International Service > > American University > > [email protected] > > -- > > > > > > *From: *Gepers <[email protected]> on behalf of " > [email protected]" <[email protected]> > *Reply-To: *"[email protected]" <[email protected]> > *Date: *Saturday, April 6, 2019 at 3:14 PM > *To: *Beth DeSombre <[email protected]>, Gepers < > [email protected]> > *Subject: *RE: [gep-ed] Good environmental trends > > > > Hi Beth, > > > > I have seen, at some point in the past ten years, some sort of good news > list. I cannot remember the source though I suspect it came over the > Canadian Association of Geographers discussion list (you could post a query > here: [email protected] . However, like one of your suggestions > (better access to clean water), I remember finding at the time that the > list only hailed purely anthropocentric improvements. As far as the state > of the non-human world is concerned, I have the overwhelming sense that > things are, across the board, going from bad to worse. > > > > I’d be happy to be proven wrong and look forward to your sharing your > findings. > > > > Cheers, > > Bill > > > > > > *From:* [email protected] <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *Beth > DeSombre > *Sent:* April 6, 2019 11:31 AM > *To:* GEP-Ed List <[email protected]> > *Subject:* [gep-ed] Good environmental trends > > > > Hi folks: > > > > This seems like a no brainer, but I'm having a surprisingly difficult time > gathering a list of positive environmental trends (worldwide and over > history). Things that have -- because of human intervention -- > unquestionably improved, with some specific details to hang on them. Things > like improved access to clean water, better air quality (of various types) > in many parts of the world, etc. > > > > I'd like to not reinvent the wheel -- I could easily come up with a list > of things I think are better now environmentally than 50 (or 25) years ago > and go fetch the details of each, but I'm certain that one or more sources > has already outlined them, with specifics attached. > > > > Can someone point me towards such lists/overviews/compilations? (Happy to > share suggestions with the group afterwards). > > > > Thanks, > > > > Beth > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "gep-ed" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout > <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__groups.google.com_d_optout&d=DwMFaQ&c=U0G0XJAMhEk_X0GAGzCL7Q&r=BOzhaYdtrFx6b4S5xQEOnb05jR0rDHGlFyLMspvfa48&m=4WAElHRedlbXlxltWAHLZWS2iW0rH7h_NbEDzZYWf-A&s=IX0wyV-Ki-AxccsE91l2fc_ZnHCezrPrIyptx2uY9_Q&e=> > . > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "gep-ed" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout > <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__groups.google.com_d_optout&d=DwMFaQ&c=U0G0XJAMhEk_X0GAGzCL7Q&r=BOzhaYdtrFx6b4S5xQEOnb05jR0rDHGlFyLMspvfa48&m=4WAElHRedlbXlxltWAHLZWS2iW0rH7h_NbEDzZYWf-A&s=IX0wyV-Ki-AxccsE91l2fc_ZnHCezrPrIyptx2uY9_Q&e=> > . > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "gep-ed" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "gep-ed" group. 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