research on ecological modernization has

Ecological Modernization – a Paradise of Feasibility but no General Solution

• First Online: 11 August 2019

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• Martin Jänicke 6  

Part of the book series: Energiepolitik und Klimaschutz. Energy Policy and Climate Protection ((EPKS))

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Ecological Modernization (EM) intends to preserve or restore environmental quality by resource-efficient innovation. Today there are several synonyms or similar concepts such as, “eco-innovation”, “green development” “green growth”, or transition towards “green economy” (OECD 2011; UNEP 2011). This environmental policy approach has meanwhile become a well-established strategy and stimulated nothing less than a real Global Industrial Revolution.

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Jänicke, M. (2020). Ecological Modernization – a Paradise of Feasibility but no General Solution. In: Mez, L., Okamura, L., Weidner, H. (eds) The Ecological Modernization Capacity of Japan and Germany. Energiepolitik und Klimaschutz. Energy Policy and Climate Protection. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-27405-4_2

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Office hours with… santiago acosta.

Santiago Acosta (Photo by Dan Renzetti)

Santiago Acosta left his native Venezuela in 2011 to continue his graduate studies in the United States. He started out at San Francisco State University, then headed to the opposite side of the country to do his Ph.D. at Columbia University, and then postdoc work at SUNY-Old Westbury on Long Island.

Now an assistant professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, where he specializes in modern and contemporary Latin American literature and visual arts, Acosta says he returns to Venezuela most every year, even as the country has plunged into economic and social turmoil under an authoritarian regime.

“ My parents are there, and I don’t want to lose my connection with the country,” he said. “I stay in touch with researchers there, with writers, with cultural institutions that are working on many interesting initiatives. And I try to collaborate with them if I can.”

We caught up with Acosta for the latest edition of Office Hours, a Q&A series that introduces Yale newcomers to the broader university community.

What is your current research focus?

Santiago Acosta : My book project examines how culture and aesthetics engage in and respond to large environmental transformations. Specifically, it studies the relation between the cultural field and the oil state in Venezuela during the 1970s. This was the period of the great oil bonanza in Venezuela. Conflicts in the Middle East led to the 1973 oil crisis and oil-producing countries benefited from that. Venezuela was rich, and the country launched a huge modernization program, taking advantage of that windfall. The government invested quite a lot of money in public art, museums, publishing houses, stipends for artists. I studied a few cases, one related to public abstract art that was incorporated into new infrastructure and urban modernization projects.

Another example has to do with urban photography and how the state financed photography books about Caracas, the capital city, which reflected the environmental and social changes of the time. The second part of the book deals with the artistic responses to the downfall of the oil boom in the 1980s.

You’re also a published poet. Does your poetry have an environmental focus?

Acosta : Yes, ecological thinking has always been present in my poetry, but especially in my most recent collection, “The Coming Desert.” It’s coming out in a bilingual edition this year. It has to do with the post-apocalyptic imagery that haunts the present and the possibility of ecological catastrophe that’s unfolding every day. I play with that sense of ecological dread— maybe trying to exorcize it through my writing — often in connection with the political crisis in Venezuela, which is an important topic for me.  I make that connection between the authoritarian decay in Venezuela and the global environmental crisis.

What are you currently teaching?

Acosta: I’m teaching an undergraduate class about energy in Latin America, seen through art and literature. It’s a history of the relation between energy and capitalist development in Latin America during the 20th and 21st centuries. I start with manifestations of oil capitalism in the early 20th century. We talk a lot about how some artists and intellectuals have represented the world of oil in their work. We also look at the ecological impact of hydroelectric dams and how some artists have approached this in their work. I’m also teaching a graduate seminar that introduces students to recent scholarly, literary, and artistic works in the environmental humanities with a focus on Latin America.

What are your interests outside of work?

Acosta: Reading and writing poetry are deeply personal practices that I treasure. Also, I’m a big fan of music. I collect vinyl records. I like jazz, Latin American music, classic rock, indie rock, African music. I also spend a lot of time playing electric and acoustic guitar. I have many interests!

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Research explores ways to mitigate the environmental toxicity of ubiquitous silver nanoparticles

by Oregon State University

Silver has long been used to thwart the spread of illness and in recent years silver nanoparticles have been incorporated into products ranging from sanitizers, odor-resistant clothes and washing machines to makeup, food packaging and sports equipment.

Nanoparticles are tiny pieces of material ranging in size from one- to 100-billionths of a meter. In addition to their antimicrobial properties, silver nanoparticles are industrially important as catalysts and in electronics applications.

Despite their ubiquity, little is known about their environmental toxicity or how it might be mitigated.

Researchers at Oregon State University have taken a key step toward closing the knowledge gap with a study that indicates the particles' shape and surface chemistry play key roles in how they affect aquatic ecosystems.

The findings, published in Nanomaterials , are important because they suggest silver nanoparticles can be produced in formats that preserve their beneficial properties while limiting environmentally negative ones.

Scientists led by Marilyn Rampersad Mackiewicz and Stacey L. Harper assessed how spherical and triangular-shaped silver nanoparticles with five different surface chemistries affected their uptake and toxicity in a laboratory microcosm of bacteria, algae, Daphnia and embryonic zebrafish.

Daphnia are tiny crustaceans, and zebrafish are a small freshwater species that go from a cell to a swimming fish in about five days.

Zebrafish are particularly useful for studying the development and genetics of vertebrates, including the effects of environmental contaminants and pharmaceuticals on early embryonic development . They share a remarkable similarity to humans at the molecular, genetic and cellular levels; embryonic zebrafish are of special interest because in addition to developing quickly, they are transparent and can be easily maintained in small amounts of water.

The authors note that hundreds of tons of silver nanoparticles are produced every year for commercial uses, meaning it's inevitable some will end up in aquatic environments.

"Silver nanoparticles are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and not much is known about their toxicity except for the free silver ions that can result from surface oxidation of the nanoparticles," said Mackiewicz, assistant professor of chemistry. "Free silver ions are known to be toxic and in this paper we found a way to study the toxicity of silver nanoparticles and how they impact the environment irrespective of poisonous silver ions."

Mackiewicz, Harper and collaborators in the OSU colleges of Science, Engineering and Agricultural Sciences found silver nanoparticles negatively affect some species but not others.

"For example, there is a decrease in bacterial and Daphnia growth, and the size and shape of the particles can contribute to that, but the nanoparticles didn't affect zebrafish," she said. "And nanoparticles coated in lipids, organic compounds found in many natural oils and waxes, did not release significant amounts of silver ions—but they exhibited the greatest toxicity to Daphnia magna, the most sensitive species in the microcosm."

Overall, Mackiewicz said, the study showed that silver nanoparticles' shape and surface chemistry can be manipulated to achieve specific objectives necessary for better understanding and mitigating the risks associated with silver nanoparticles. A related study awaiting publication, she added, shows that small, spherical nanoparticles are more toxic than triangles or cubes.

Nanoparticles are the latest format, Mackiewicz notes, for an element that throughout history has been used to restrict the spread of human disease via incorporation into items used in everyday life. Its earliest recorded use for therapeutic purposes dates back 3,500 years.

During the Middle Ages, wealthy families used so many silver vessels, plates and other products that they developed bluish skin discolorations known as argyria, a condition believed to have led to the term "blue blood" as a description for members of the aristocracy.

Collaborating with Mackiewicz and Harper on the study were OSU researchers Bryan Harper and Arek Engstrom.

Provided by Oregon State University

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