Mark Brooks

Keep Your Eye on This Guy

9 August, 2011 | Mark Brooks

When Jonathan Glencross arrived at McGill University, he had no intention of changing the institution. Yet four years later, this is precisely what he has helped do. Enrolled in the McGill School of Environment, Glencross has become one of the driving forces behind the university’s dramatically increased commitment to sustainability.

“I grew up in the suburbs in a context that was pretty unsustainable in terms of how we organized our lives,” he says.

In Review: Beyond Stupid

13 April, 2011 | Mark Brooks

Requiem for a Species: Why We Resist the Truth About Climate Change, Clive Hamilton, London, UK: Earthscan, 2010, 240 pages.

I have a friend I’ll call Dave. An educated, rational and intelligent man, Dave can be counted on for thoughtful, reasoned arguments, except on one issue: climate change. He has read the overwhelming evidence, but Dave remains certain that climate change is a myth. His proof? He has none that hasn’t been dismissed repeatedly by climate scientists. Still, Dave remains steadfast and I could never understand why. Clive Hamilton may have given me the answer. …

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New Works

Published in: EcoBooks 37.3

In Review: Prosperity Without Growth

21 October, 2010 | Mark Brooks

Prosperity without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet, Tim Jackson, London, UK: Earthscan, 2009, 264 pages.

Reviewed by Mark Brooks.

Former Alberta environment minister Lorne Taylor was reported to have remarked to David Suzuki that without a strong, growing economy, Canadians simply could not afford to protect the environment.

Most economists today continue to promote the idea that the wealthier the economy, the more money we will have to reduce pollution, invest in green technologies and protect wilderness areas. So why on Earth would we want to dispense with the pursuit of economic growth, particularly when the global economy is so vulnerable?

Published in: Biodiversity 36.6

In Review: Right Relationship: Building a Whole Earth Economy

18 August, 2009 | Mark Brooks

Perhaps it is the economic crisis. Maybe it is climate change, soaring extinction rates or the ever-widening gap between the rich and poor. Or then again, it could simply be the nagging sense among more and more people that the human project has somehow gone awry. Whatever the case, in recent years, we have witnessed an explosion of popular interest in books that question, even excoriate, the most fundamental assumptions of our current, growth-at-all-costs economic system. ...

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