Green politics

Would ecological concerns and green political movements evolve on Infinity World Why would inhabitants be concerned with pollution, biodiversity, or animal or plant extinction with unlimited land and water No doubt there would be local pollution concerns, but overall Interest would be diminished. 

Ever since Rachel Carson drew attention to the adverse environmental effects of some pesticides in her book Silent Spring in 1962, there has been a growing concern and awareness of environmental issues. The environmental movement has grown very rapidly in recent years and this is evident from the establishment and rapid growth of the Green political parties in countries like Germany and the U.K. It is therefore appropriate to examine the position of the chemical industry with regard to the environment since a number of the problems have been laid at the former s doorstep. 

Burchell, J. 2002. The Evolution of Green Politics. Development and Change within European Green Parties. Earthscan London. 

However, the American consumer now seems ready to accept some reduction in cosmetic standards, provided pesticide use is diminished (47). Their concern about pesticide use is confirmed by the growing popularity of organic food stores and supermarkets that guarantee pesticide-free produce (48). Also, the "Big Green" initiative in California, although it didn t pass, signals that consumers are alarmed about pesticide use and are willing to take political action to make their views known. 

The calls for a reduction of U.S. hydrocarbon use by 90% would eliminate 75% of America s energy supply are unrealistic. This 75% of U.S. energy cannot be replaced by alternative green sources in the near future. In spite of wide support and subsidies for decades alternative sources still provide a small percent of U.S. energy. The U.S. cannot continue to be a net importer of energy without losing its economic and industrial strength and its political independence. 

The pivotal moment in Hobson s political project is when Green first decides that he could indeed pass as a Jew—that Jews and Grentiles are essentially interchangeable. In the movie, Gregory Peck runs over and checks himself out in the mirror. In the novel Green mentally scans his own physiognomy to make sure that such an imposture would be believable ... 

For example, Dave Horton notes how the lifestyles of green activists challenge conventional norms of behaviour and can thus be seen as a form of political action, not merely an expression of private preference (Horton, 2002). 

Naturally, such follies have a political background. At the level of the Swedish Parliament, the green block, consisting of the Environmental Party and the likewise environmentalist Center Party, exerts a substantial political influence. The Swedish Greens control a sufficient number of members of parliament that they can swing votes in favor either of the Social Democrats or the liberal/conservatives, endowing the Greens with clout out of all proportion to their numbers. 

Only countries with political clout and political sense about DDT, notably South Africa, China, and India, still use it. South Africa had stopped using DDT in 1996 under pressure to join the world s Green community and switched to the next best alternative, the synthetic pyrethroids, which are three times the price and are effective over a shorter time span. Four years later, in 2000, South Africa decided to resume DDT spraying after malaria cases jumped by 1,000 percent because of mosquito resistance to the synthetic pyrethroids. 

K.A. Dahlberg, in Beyond the Green Revolution The Ecology and Politics of Global Agricultural Development (K.A. Dahlberg, Ed.), Plenum Press, New York, NY (1979). 

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