Quick catch-up

There have been several interesting articles and discussions this week but until now I have been too busy to blog them all. Here is a quick round-up:

* Debate on geo-engineering. The Royal Society (Britain’s premier science organisation) has published a series of papers in its Philosophical Transactions on geo-engineering. That in turn prompted a substantial article in the Economist (6 September edition) and a piece by Oliver Tickell (an environmental campaigner) on the Guardian comment is free site supporting geo-engineering but only if it is linked to a reduction in emissions.

* Book on Nazi’s green credentials. I came across this when I heard radio presenters making fun of the title How Green were the Nazis?. To me it is a perfectly reasonable question and the book looks interesting. There is no doubt that many Nazis supported what are today classified as environmental ideas – which does not mean that all environmentalists are Nazis. The most serious critique I could find of the book was in Haaretz (Israel’s leading newspaper).

* Critique of Garrett Hardin’s classic article on “The tragedy of the commons” from a leftist viewpoint. Available here.

* Article on conservative assumptions of organic food movement. Conservative in a literal Burkean sense. Available here.

* Poll on hostility to local development in America, Britain and Canada. Available here.

* James Heartfield on Enron as a pioneer of environmentalism. Based on extracts from his latest book. Available here.