DOCSLIB.ORG

Scorcher: the Dirty Politics of Climate Change

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Scorcher: the Dirty Politics of Climate Change BOOK REVIEWS undercut market competition, commercial school, a tradition Scorcher: The dirty politics profi tability and the rule of law. of thought accurately labelled of climate change In the next chapter, ‘The commercial humanism. Highly by Clive Hamilton Dilemma of Democracy’, the focus sceptical of the men of system, Black Inc Agenda falls upon the electoral politics of those of the commercial school Melbourne, 2007 democracy, the tyranny of the regard commercial order as $29.95, 266pp majority, and onto public choice integral to any society that aspires ISBN 9780977594900 and interest group politics which to the title of civilised.’ move inexorably to undercutting This is a fine study, replete he central theme of Scorcher the rule of law and towards an with facts and arguments relating is the impact that a special ever-expanding welfare state. to its subject matter that are not T interest group consisting of carbon In his concluding chapter, Gregg commonly to hand in a relatively intensive industries has had on refl ects upon the often unnoticed short book. It is lucid and easy to Australia’s climate change policies. but crucial role of cultural moeurs read, and rewarding for both the Dr Hamilton believes that a group in helping the emergence of a non-specialist reader as well as of people known as the greenhouse commercial society, and sustaining those familiar with topics often mafi a have successfully convinced it when established. Here again not dealt with as competently and the Australian Government not Gregg’s sensitivity to the moral revealingly as they are here. to take serious action to combat dimensions of civil society and global warming. As such, Scorcher its freedoms adds depth to the Reviewed by Barry Maley could be viewed as an attempt to analysis. provide a case study of private Gregg’s analysis reinforces the interest theories of regulation. point that commercial societies If convincing, such a case cannot be established by mere study would be a very valuable fiat or forms of law that are addition to both the public simply documents that remain policy and popular economics uninscribed in the hearts and literature. Furthermore, it minds of its citizens. It takes a would have reinforced the very long time, and a certain sort of powerful message about the history, to establish unconscious need to reduce greenhouse gas habits and unexamined customs emissions conveyed in Al Gore’s of liberty, free exchange, law- documentary and Professor abidingness, restraint and civility Nicholas Stern’s report. that are the essential strengths I am broadly sympathetic to behind the formal institutions of the idea that Australia should commercial society. take sensible steps to reduce Even if a commercial society its greenhouse gas emissions. is hit by disaster and demolished Indeed, I used to work for the by war or political upheaval, Australian Greenhouse Office the cultural memory of what is (AGO). During that time, I was required, if the people survive, involved in the production of may nourish its re-appearance. some of the discussion papers Gregg refers to the example of on emissions trading that the Estonia where an earlier tradition AGO released in 1999. However, of commercial activity was despite my sympathy for taking successfully revived after liberation action to reduce greenhouse gas from the Russian communists, emissions, I found many of the while in Russia itself the attempt arguments presented in Scorcher to to do so continues to struggle be unconvincing. Indeed, in some and falter. parts, it reads likes a conspiracy All of this, he concludes, theory. ‘suggests that we can speak of a 56 POLICY • Vol. 23 No. 3 • Spring 2007 BOOK REVIEWS Scorcher begins with three attempts and an assessment of their true for many countries. This chapters that are designed to success. Instead, Dr Hamilton situation is what underlies the provide context for the analysis attempts to convince the reader tragedy of the commons nature that is presented in the remainder that the fossil-fuel industry, the of global warming and makes of the book. The first of these Australian Government and at it a difficult problem to solve. preliminary chapters identifies least some public servants are Dr Hamilton clearly recognises the villains of piece, the so- involved in a vast conspiracy to this point. Indeed, he criticises called ‘Greenhouse Mafia’. prevent Australia from taking the Australian government for Unsurprisingly, these largely any serious action to reduce its noting that Australia makes a consist of people who represent greenhouse gas emissions. very small contribution to total the major players in the fossil- I fi nd these aspects of Scorcher world greenhouse gas emissions. fuel industries. The second of somewhat unconvincing. I can’t However, rather than discuss the preliminary chapters outlines help but wonder how much of the the problems this creates for the historical importance of fossil inside information on the activities designing policies to combat fuels to developed countries, the of the so-called Greenhouse Mafi a global warming that countries will scientific consensus on global is simply bluster on the part of choose to implement, he criticises warming and the ethical principles lobbyists. Certainly, the fact that the Australian government for that Dr Hamilton believes the fossil fuel industries were making a perfectly valid point. should apply to any analysis of seeking to influence Australian Ideally, most, if not all, countries climate change policy. The third climate change policies was not should probably reduce their preliminary chapter provides a secret. greenhouse gas emissions. As some descriptive statistics on the The Australian Industry usual, there may be trade-offs sources and size of Australia’s Greenhouse Network, an umbrella between effi ciency and equity. An greenhouse gas emissions. group that claims to present equitable solution would probably The remaining chapters in industry views on climate change involve developed countries, Scorcher essentially provide an policies, includes many of the including Australia, bearing a historical account of the evolution industries that are either major larger than average share of the of Australia’s climate change producers or major burden compared to policies from Dr Hamilton’s point users of fossil fuels. less developed countries. of view. This account begins This group has certainly However, this is premised in the early 1980s and proceeds participated in policy on the potential for through to early 2007. However, discussions, but that is a sufficient reduction the bulk of the book is devoted to hardly unusual. Indeed, in global emissions to the period from 1997 onwards. I wonder whether most take place so that that Thus Scorcher focuses on the years of the influence that future global warming is in which the Howard Government the fossil fuel industries signifi cantly reduced. If has been in power. have had on Australian this is unlikely to occur, The central premise of Scorcher climate change policy then it would not make is that the Howard government has occurred through overt sense for Australia to reduce its has been captured by the fossil- lobbying activities rather than emissions. This is especially the fuel lobby and this has led to covert manipulation of politicians case if there are no penalties, Australia choosing policies that do and maybe some public servants. such as trade restrictions, for not not promote the interests of most Despite the fact that Dr ratifying Kyoto or not reducing Australians. There is no doubt Hamilton is an economist, he Australia’s emissions. that people representing the major does not pay suffi cient attention It is also worth noting that players in the fossil fuel industries in Scorcher to the economic ratifying the Kyoto protocol by have attempted to influence nature of the global warming itself is essentially meaningless, Australian climate change policies. problem. If Australia was to except perhaps for the signal that it Nor is there any doubt that their unilaterally reduce its greenhouse sends. Are all of the countries that efforts have been at least partially gas emissions, it would have very ratifi ed the Kyoto protocol going successful. Unfortunately, Scorcher little impact on future global to meet their target? Are they all is not simply an account of these warming. Indeed, this is probably going to come close to meeting POLICY • Vol. 23 No. 3 • Spring 2007 57 BOOK REVIEWS their targets? Will Australia meet ignored. It is unlikely that Scorcher Arndt’s Story: The life of an its Kyoto target? Will it come will convince people of the need Australian economist close to meeting its target? Clearly, to take action to reduce our by Peter Coleman, Selwyn the fairness of Australia’s Kyoto greenhouse gas emissions unless Cornish and Peter Drake target can be debated. they were already predisposed with Bettina Arndt Dr Hamilton is of the view that to this position. As a result, Dr Asia Pacific Press Australia’s emission cap under the Hamilton fails where Mr Gore Canberra, 2007 Kyoto protocol is too generous. and Professor Stern succeeded. $45, 338pp Nonetheless, when analysing the impact of Australia’s decision Reviewed by Damien ISBN 9780731538102 not to ratify the Kyoto protocol, S Eldridge. Damien einz Arndt was a fortunate it seems reasonable to compare has worked for two man. He escaped the fate of actual Australian emissions with organisations mentioned H most of those of Jewish extraction the target emissions for Australia in Scorcher, the Australian born in the Germany of 1915 by in the fi rst commitment period. Greenhouse Office and If Australia is closer to meeting being able to move to Oxford in Charles River Associates 1933 for his university education. its target than some countries International. that did ratify the protocol, why Australia was a fortunate country would the fact that Australia because in 1946 Arndt, just married didn’t ratify the protocol be and embarking on a career as an particularly significant? Maybe economist, accepted a lectureship it sent a particularly bad signal at Sydney University.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Industry Associations & ASX Companies
    Industry Associations, ASX Companies, Shareholder Interests and Lobbying CONTENTS About the Authors ........................................................................................................................ 3 ACCR ............................................................................................................................................ 3 About ISS-caer ............................................................................................................................. 3 About the Report .......................................................................................................................... 4 Foreword ...................................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 5 Report Structure .......................................................................................................................... 6 PART 1 - Background ................................................................................................................... 8 What is an Industry Association? .............................................................................................. 8 Advantages and Disadvantages of Belonging to an Industry Association ........................... 10 Australian Legislation and Regulations Covering Industry Associations ............................. 11
    [Show full text]
  • The Philosophy of Geoengineering
    The Philosophy of Geoengineering A contribution to the IMPLICC symposium ‘The Atmospheric Science and Economics of Climate Engineering via Aerosol Injection’ held at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany, 14-16 May, 2012 Clive Hamilton1 ―The time is coming when the struggle for dominion over the earth will be carried on. It will be carried on in the name of fundamental philosophical doctrines.‖ Friedrich Nietzsche 1882 Instead of the usual distinction between geoengineering technologies—carbon dioxide removal versus solar radiation management—perhaps a more revealing division is between large-scale interventions in the processes that govern the Earth system, where the stakes are high, and localized interventions, where the costs of failure are low. In my comments today I have in mind the former, in particular the ambitious system-altering interventions of sulphate aerosol injections, marine cloud brightening and ocean iron fertilization. Geoengineering is inseparable from the arrival of the Anthropocene, because a changed climate is the dominant feature of the new epoch. It is an attempt to prevent or slow the transition from the Holocene—that geologically brief 10,000 years of remarkable climatic stability and mildness, which made possible the emergence of human civilization. The question now being posed to us is whether civilisation has advanced so far that it can detach itself from the conditions that made it possible, whether we have outgrown the womb of the Holocene. I think it will take many years for us to grasp the full meaning of the announcement, made by Paul Crutzen and Eugene Stoermer, that human activity has become a force of nature powerful enough to shift the Earth‘s geological arc, and in a direction much less sympathetic to most forms of life.
    [Show full text]
  • The Social Construction of Climate Change: Deconstructing the Climate Change Debate in Australia
    The Social Construction of Climate Change: Deconstructing the Climate Change Debate in Australia Author Hytten, Karen F Published 2013 Thesis Type Thesis (PhD Doctorate) School Griffith School of Environemnt DOI https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/1670 Copyright Statement The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/366505 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au The Social Construction of Climate Change Deconstructing the Climate Change Debate in Australia _________________________________________________________________________ Karen F. Hytten B Env Mgt (Hons) 31 May 2013 Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Brisbane. i ii Abstract _________________________________________________________________________ Since the 1980s there has been a growing recognition of the significant risks associated with climate change. By 2007, the scientific evidence that anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions were causing global warming was irrefutable. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its Fourth Assessment Report which describes in great detail the biophysical and social impacts of climate change, some of which are already being experienced. Many argue that Australia is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. It is also widely acknowledged that as one of the highest per-capita emitters in the world, Australia has a particular responsibility to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. However, despite this, Australia’s response to climate change has been largely inadequate, giving rise to a need for research into factors shaping this response. Research has identified the important role that discourses play in shaping perceptions of climate change and responses to the issue.
    [Show full text]
  • Utopias in the Anthropocene
    Utopias in the Anthropocene Plenary session of the American Sociological Association, Denver, 17 August 2012 Clive Hamilton1 In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late ... We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residue of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words: "Too late". Martin Luther King Jr, 1967 It is not widely understood that carbon dioxide persists in the atmosphere for centuries, so our future will depend on the total amount we humans put into it over the next several decades. This is the paramount fact that separates climate change from all other environmental problems. On top of past emissions, the total amount will depend on two critical factors—the year in which global emissions reach their peak, and how quickly they fall thereafter. Let’s make some optimistic forecasts.2 Firstly, assume that global emissions peak in 2020, so that after that year any increase in emissions from poor countries must be more than offset by declines in rich countries. Realistically, after persistent failure to reach an international agreement, global emissions are likely to keep growing until 2030 or beyond. Second, assume that global emissions fall by 3% each year after the 2020 peak until they reach a floor, the minimum necessary to supply the world’s population with food. Of course, we cannot expect poor countries to cut their emissions as fast as rich ones, so a global decline of 3% per annum translates into a 6-7% per annum decline in energy and industrial emissions in rich countries.3 1 Professor of Public Ethics, Charles Sturt University, Canberra.
    [Show full text]
  • Theories of Climate Change
    REVIEW ESSAY, AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, DECEMBER, VOLUME 47, ISSUE 4, 2012 Theories of climate change Clive Hamilton1 Max Koch. 2012. Capitalism and Climate Change: Theoretical Discussion, Historical Development and Policy Responses, Houndsmill: Palgrave Macmillan Anthony Giddens. 2011. The Politics of Climate Change. 2nd edition. Cambridge: Polity Press Ulrich Beck. 2010. ‗Climate for Change, or How to Create a Green Modernity? Theory, Culture & Society 27(2-3): 254-66 On the face of it, the climate crisis lends itself to a Marxist analysis, and Max Koch duly interprets it as a stage in the development of capitalism. We see burgeoning greenhouse gas emissions due to relentless accumulation of capital, a powerful lobby protecting its interests at home and exporting its dirty business to poor countries, and governments placing the interests of corporations before those of the vulnerable and powerless. Above all, around the world the response to the existential threat posed by a warming globe has always been to give priority to economic growth, the conditio sine qua non for continued capital accumulation. The natural environment becomes no more than the means to the end of capital accumulation. However, it is not capitalism that has given us the climate crisis but technological industrialism, the essential urge of socialism as well. Environmental damage under socialism has been as bad as or worse than under capitalism. Soviet industrialization was notorious for its ecological destructiveness. The priority given to growth over environmental protection in the Soviet Union seeped into the thinking of much of the Left in the West, so that for many years parts of the Left were deeply suspicious of the environment movement, seeing it as a fad of middle-class activists burnishing their egos while jeopardising the livelihoods of workers.
    [Show full text]
  • China's Influence Activities
    November 2018 China’s Influence Activities: What Canada can learn from Australia Clive Hamilton This talk was delivered at a panel event at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute on October 16, 2018. Introduction The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) long-term objective is to absorb Australia into its sphere of influence and shift Australia away from its alliance with the United States. That objective was decided in 2004 when the Cen- tral Committee of the Party resolved to include Australia in China’s “overall periphery,” that is, to regard it like countries that have a land border with China and therefore need to be controlled. The CCP views Australia as a weak link in the American alliance and, as a European nation located in Asia, a major prize in its push for strategic dominance across the Asia-Pacific region. Australia has accordingly been the target of the full force of the CCP’s sophisticated influence and interference operations. Canada’s place in the CCP’s strategic map of the world is as important as Australia’s in its own way, and it too has been subject to a “full court press” of influence operations. As I show in my book Silent Invasion (2018), the CCP has been engaged in a thoroughgoing, systematic cam- paign to shift elite opinion in Australia so that decision-makers act in ways conformable with Beijing’s wishes. We can see, so far with less clarity, a similar process in this country. Over decades, the Party has built a complex network of agencies tasked with exerting influence abroad.
    [Show full text]
  • Fifteenth Maurice Blackburn Oration
    Fifteenth Maurice Blackburn Oration Dr Clive Hamilton Consumer Capitalism Is this as good as it gets? Fifteenth Maurice Blackburn Oration Introduction Cr Joe Ficarra Mayor, Moreland City Council It’s a great privilege for me to introduce the 15th Maurice Blackburn Oration, Consumer Capitalism: Is this as good as it gets? presented by Dr Clive Hamilton. The origins of this lecture series are found in the generosity and spirit of two great Australians, Maurice and Doris Blackburn. Maurice and Doris Blackburn strove throughout their lives to overcome forces that oppressed and exploited society’s most vulnerable people. Although Clive Hamilton is competing against a very different set of forces, he too aims to effect change and improve the lives of those who are vulnerable to the oppressive aspects of our culture and economy. 1 Fifteenth Maurice Blackburn Oration Dr Hamilton is Executive Director of The Australia Increasingly, we are referred to as ‘consumers’ in Institute, an independent policy research centre based the language of marketing, business and even in in Canberra. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the government. The old RSL adage that, ‘The price of University of Technology, Sydney. liberty is eternal vigilance’ is certainly true, and despite a stable democracy, a productive economy and Described in the press as Australia’s leading near universal freedom from material deprivation, environmental economist, Dr Hamilton has many the pressures upon us as consumers greatly constrain years experience in economic research and policy our liberty to live happy and rewarding lives. evaluation, especially in the area of natural resource management and environment.
    [Show full text]
  • Framing the Anthropocene: Educating for Sustainability
    Language & Ecology 2018 http://ecolinguistics-association.org/journal Framing the Anthropocene: Educating for Sustainability Gerri McNenny, Chapman University, California [email protected] Abstract As the concept of the Anthropocene as an epoch marking humankind’s power as a geophysical force gathers momentum, sustainability educators will be confronted by conflicting interpretations of its significance. More than a geological epoch, the Anthropocene marks a turning point for cultural, spiritual, and political ways of moving forward in confronting and framing humankind’s impact on earth systems. In this article, I examine the frames and rhetorics surrounding the use of the term the Anthropocene and their implications for sustainability education across several disciplines. Through the use of ecolinguistics and critical discourse analysis, I argue that analysis of the framing of the Anthropocene provides a critical tool for examining interpretations and approaches to what it means to be in the midst of an epoch in which humankind’s impact on the planet merits a new geologic time frame. An examination of frames across disciplines found that the Anthropocene is characterized both positively and negatively, with some scholars embracing the opportunities for continued growth while others warn of planetary boundaries and rupture from the previously calm Holocene. Keywords: sustainability education, Anthropocene, ecolinguistics, framing, discourse analysis Language & Ecology 2018 http://ecolinguistics-association.org/journal As the concept of the Anthropocene as an epoch marking humankind’s power as a geophysical force (Rickards, 2015; Steffen, Grinevald, Crutzen & McNeill, 2011) gathers momentum, sustainability educators will be confronted by conflicting interpretations of its significance. More than a geological epoch, the Anthropocene marks a turning point for cultural, spiritual, and political ways of moving forward in confronting and framing humankind’s impact on earth systems.
    [Show full text]
  • Buildingcd a Healthy Democracy
    Building cd a healthy democracy Research Paper Photo: Parliament House, Canberrra; James Thomas Photo: Yellingbo National Park; Annette Ruzicka/MAP group Executive Summary Together we aim to build a democracy where power resides with the people, where people can participate in a fair and clean process in an active and meaningful way, and where decisions are made in the interests of the people and the planet. Top four opportunities More people today live in democracies than for democratic reform: any other time in history. But throughout the world, there are widespread concerns about how democracies are functioning to protect 1. Donation and election the things that matter most—wellbeing of finance reform people, planet and future generations. In Australia, our democratic system has failed to 2. Broadening the safeguard our landscape from crises like climate parameters of government damage and habitat destruction, even though decision-making most Australians are concerned about these issues and want action. Political discontent 3. Participatory and and disempowerment are steadily rising with deliberative democracy record low levels of trust in politics and political representatives across the country. This report 4. Civics education explores the reasons behind these trends and articulates a vision and key principles for a healthier democracy, which can deliver on what really matters. We spoke to prominent stakeholders from organisations across Australia to deepen our understanding of the obstacles to a healthy democracy and learn how we might move closer to our vision: One where power resides with the people, where we can participate in a fair and clean process in an active and meaningful way, and where decisions and decision-making are made in the interests of the people and the planet.
    [Show full text]
  • Wasteful Consumption in Australia
    THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE Wasteful Consumption in Australia Clive Hamilton Richard Denniss David Baker Discussion Paper Number 77 March 2005 ISSN 1322-5421 ii © The Australia Institute This work is copyright. It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes only with the written permission of the Australia Institute. Such use must not be for the purposes of sale or commercial exploitation. Subject to the Copyright Act 1968, reproduction, storage in a retrieval system or transmission in any form by any means of any part of the work other than for the purposes above is not permitted without written permission. Requests and inquiries should be directed to The Australia Institute. The Australia Institute iii Table of Contents Tables and Figures v Acknowledgements vi Summary vii 1. Wants and waste 1 1.1 Why do we buy? 1 1.2 Wasteful consumption 3 2. The extent of wasteful consumption 5 2.1 Survey description 5 2.2 Wasteful consumption in Australia 6 2.3 Regional and state differences 9 2.4 Some implications 12 3. Attitudes to waste 13 3.1 Survey questions 13 3.2 Guilt 13 3.3 Thinking carefully 16 3.4 Fessing up 17 4. Towards reducing wasteful consumption 20 4.1 The growing waste problem 20 4.2 Types of wasters 21 4.3 Some implications 24 References 26 Appendix Consumer spending questionnaire 29 Wasteful consumption iv The Australia Institute v Tables and Figures Table 1 Wasteful consumption by type and by state and territory 10 Table 2 ‘Most Australians buy and consume far more than they need: it’s 23 wasteful’, by amount
    [Show full text]
  • Byron Holds out Over Fluoride
    THE BYRON SHIRE ECHO Advertising & news enquiries: Mullumbimby 02 6684 1777 Byron Bay 02 6685 5222 Fax 02 6684 1719 [email protected] [email protected] http://www.echo.net.au >ÌiÊ VOLUME 21 #06 V >}iÊ TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2006 22,300 copies every week >ViÀÃ PAGES $1 at newsagents only HIGH DEFINITION TEXT Byron holds out over fl uoride Lesley Patterson ‘If a staff recommendation Council to reconsider its Helena and Ocean Shores to Rous Water will add fl uoride is adopted on Wednesday, at position concerns our neigh- enable it to link up with to the region’s water supply least Rous will be demanding bours to the north. A few Tweed have already been but exclude properties within that all capital costs, even for years ago Rous approached completed. The problem is Byron Shire. This is the rec- four plants, be met by the Tweed Shire Council about that Rous could not supply ommendation to go before Department of Health not linking their respective water Tweed with fl uoride dosed Rous Water’s council meet- Rous,’ said Cr Staples. Rous, supplies. During periods of water unless a separate dos- ing this Wednesday. Follow- or rather its ratepayers, will shortage in the Tweed, Rous ing plant is built to the north ing support from Lismore, have to cover the annual would send water north and and any water Tweed Shire The fi lm of The Book Richmond Valley and Ballina operating costs which are in when the dry hits Byron and supplied to Byron Shire Councils, management from the region of $170,000.
    [Show full text]
  • Getting the Anthropocene So Wrong
    ANR0010.1177/2053019615584974The Anthropocene ReviewHamilton 584974research-article2015 Perspectives and controversies The Anthropocene Review 1 –6 Getting the Anthropocene © The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: so wrong sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/2053019615584974 anr.sagepub.com Clive Hamilton Abstract Rather than clarifying it, a recent paper by Simon Lewis and Mark Maslin (2015), ‘Defining the Anthropocene’, adds to the confusion about the new epoch. The paper does not recognise that a paradigm shift has occurred, one in which environmental science has been displaced by Earth System science. The story tells of an Anthropocene beginning in 1610. It is not credible, as it is not based on an accurate understanding of the Earth System. In addition, in its determination to find a ‘golden spike’ the paper confuses stratigraphic markers for the epoch itself. It finds a marker when there is no event and ignores an event when it cannot find a marker. Keywords Anthropocene, Earth System science, new paradigm ‘Defining the Anthropocene’, written by Simon Lewis and Mark Maslin (2015) and recently pub- lished in Nature, does nothing to advance the definition of the new epoch. Each of the paper’s misinterpretations can be reduced to two essential mistakes. The first is soon apparent: Lewis and Maslin’s text fails to recognise that a paradigm shift has occurred, one in which ecology or environmental science has been displaced by Earth System science. Ecology is the science of the relationship between organisms and their local environments, whereas Earth System science is the science of the whole Earth as a complex system beyond the sum of its parts.
    [Show full text]