I started reading the Rockridge Institute (George Lakoff) Thinking
Points last night and something in Stephen's response struck a
chord.
I think in the Rockridge analysis, cost-benefit analysis would be seen as
one of those surface frames that leads progressives astray (like
"freedom" - nothing wrong with it in some contexts, but context
is everything.
Stephen's statement below misses an important deep frame that I hold in
my thinking, and I think a lot of progressives do: costs and benefits are
not uniform because they are superficial, not rooted in a deeper value:
conservation.
If you calculations tell you it's OK to consume paper and throw it away
somewhere, that's a sign to me that things are more deeply screwed up in
that somewhere and you should figure out why.
If your scientific analysis causes you to disregard your deep values,
it's going to make you inauthentic.
H.
At 11:01 AM 7/20/2007, Stephan Pollard wrote:
I am not. However, depending
on the location and other factors the individual who made those
statements might be correct. You don't know the answer until a
well-undertaken cost-benefit analysis / life-cycle analysis has been put
together for the region or situation in question. Cost and
benefits (environmental, social, production, or otherwise) are not
uniform across the country.
Best,
Stephan
Matthew Cotton wrote:
Are people on the list-serve
familiar with this story:
This video
interview of Stephen Dubner,
co-author of Freakonomics, actually contends that it is
economically and environmentally infeasible to recycle paper
(paraphrased). It made my blood boil,
especially since I am chairing a Mass. Recycles Paper! campaign
(www.massrecyclespaper.org)
through MassRecycle based on the economic and environmental benefits of
increasing paper recovery.
Many of us in Mass. are sending letters of protest. You too may send
comments
tohttp://abcnews.go.com/Site/page?id=3052660.
-Claire Sullivan, Executive Director
South Shore Recycling Cooperative
508-785-8318
fax 508-785-2296
ssrcclaire@no.address
www.ssrc.info
cell 508-934-6147
ssrc.info
----- Original Message -----
From: Carol
Rubenstein
To:
MassRecycle@no.address
Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2007 5:14 PM
Subject: [MassRecycle] Good Morning America on recycling
There was an alarming piece on Good Morning America on Wednesday July 18: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3389378 , in which an interviewee who is discussing which recycling activities are worthwhile and which are not, states that paper recycling is probably not worth it, and we should probably just go for paper products made of virgin pulp. Shall we all respond individually to ABC with our own versions of why we think paper recycling is valuable? Or do we want to respond as an organization?
Carol S. Rubenstein, Chair
Sherborn Recycling Committee
508-653-8794
Carol.Rubenstein@no.address
Matthew Cotton
Integrated Waste Management Consulting, LLC
19375 Lake City Road
Nevada City, CA 95959
(530) 265-4560
Fax (530) 265-4547
mattcotton@no.address
Join us at the US Composting Council's 16th Annual Conference & Trade Show, February 9 - 12th, 2008 at the Oakland Marriott City Center, Oakland, California. Check it out at www.compostingcouncil.org
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