Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth

Eco-Economy discusses the need for a dramatic shift in our worldview by asking the urgent question: is the environment part of the economy or the economy part of the environment? Lester Brown argues the latter, pointing out that treating the environment as part of the economy has produced an economy that is destroying its natural support system. In this book, Brown describes how to restructure the global economy to make it compatible with the earth’s eco-system so that economic progress can continue. In the new economy, wind farms replace coal mines, hydrogen-powered fuel cells replace internal combustion engines, and cities are designed for people, not cars. The book provides glimpses of the new economy: in the wind farms of Denmark, the solar rooftops of Japan, the bicycle network of the Netherlands, and the reforested mountains of South Korea. Eco-Economy is a road map of how to get from here to there.