The Gnat Is Older than Man

by Christopher D. Stone

• ISBN13: 9781400820856
• ISBN10: 1400820855
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2023-11-14
• Publisher: Princeton University Press

Summary

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

Preface

Acknowledgments

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

The Condition of the Earth from the Legal Perspective

Astronaut and Diplomat

A Nation's Abuse of Its Own Environment

Transboundary Pollution

The Preventive Techniques

The Reactive Techniques

Consensual Transboundary Pollution

Managing the Global Commons

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

Treaties as Antidotes

The Virtues of a Treaty-Based Approach

The Impediments to Treaty Formation

Under What Circumstances are International Negotiations Likely to Succeed?

The Economist's Prescriptions: Taxes and Tradable Permits

The Economic Ideal

Institutionalizing the Economic Ideal

Pro Rata Cutbacks

Effluent Taxes

Tradable Emissions Permits

Medicating the Earth: Preventatives and Remedies

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

Taking Out Calamity Insurance

The Application of Conventional Insurance to Climate Change

Modes of Government Participation

The International Precedents and Prospects

Alternative "Insurance"

Paying the Bills: Toward a Global Commons Trust Fund

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"

The Spiritual and Moral Dimensions of the Environmental Crisis: Of Humankind 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

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