The Computational Structure of Life Cycle Assessment Book

Hey, this is a highly readable book that makes some very convincing arguments for cap and trade. While Heal is definitely a market enthusiast (more than I am, for example), he acknowledges the tough political decisions that have to be made in conservation choices. After reading this, I've become more convinced of the potential efficacy of judiciously used market forces in complement to international regulation in promoting conservation efforts.

One big gap in Heal's thinking is his implicit dismissal of traditional plant knowledge in his chapter on biodiversity. To him, Western-style, university or corporate-funded research is the only way to produce "knowledge." He should realize that a lot of this "research" is conducted on the backs of thousands of years of traditional knowledge of the properties of plants - a point Vandana Shiva makes quite well. I'm not saying that everything every traditional healer "knows" about plants is correct. There are bound to be systematic errors in a system as fragmented and un-standardized as traditional medicine. But traditional knowledge goes a long way towards showing pharmaceutical researchers where to look. And literally millions, maybe billions of people, depend on it.

Heal does tip his hat to Shaman Pharmaceuticals for sharing their profits with their informants. But that should be the law, not just best practice. Certification, in the style Fair Trade, would be a good intermediate step between the current state of things and future international legislation.

I'm about 10 pages from the end of this, so it's technically "currently-reading," but basically, I've read it.