Sources and methods -- Rulers and rivers -- Female feck -- Dietary entanglements -- Resisting luxury -- After the encounter -- Transformation in the natural history museum.

This volume is a response to Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical Laudato Si’. Published in 2015, the encyclical urges us to face up to the crisis of climate change and to take better care of the Earth, our common home, while also attending to the plight of the poor. In this book the Pope’s invitation to all people to begin a new dialogue about these matters is considered from a variety of perspectives by an international and multidisciplinary team of leading scholars. There is discussion of the implications of Laudato Si’ for immigration, population control, eating animals, and property ownership. Additionally, indigenous religious perspectives, development and environmental protection, and the implementation of the ideas of the encyclical within the Church are explored. Some chapters deal with scriptural or philosophical aspects of the encyclical. Others focus on central concepts, such as interconnectedness, the role of practice, and what Pope Francis calls the "technocratic paradigm." This book expertly illuminates the relationship between Laudato Si’ and environmental concerns. It will be of deep interest to anyone studying religion and the environment, environmental ethics, Catholic theology, or environmental thought.

Our day-to-day experiences over the past decade have taught us that there must be limits to our tremendous appetite for energy, natural resources, and consumer goods. Even utility and oil companies now promote conservation in the face of demands for dwindling energy reserves. And for years some biologists have warned us of the direct correlation between scarcity and population growth. These scientists see an appalling future riding the tidal wave of a worldwide growth of population and technology. A calm but unflinching realist, Catton suggests that we cannot stop this wave - for we have already overshot the Earth's capacity to support so huge a load. He contradicts those scientists, engineers, and technocrats who continue to write optimistically about energy alternatives. Catton asserts that the technological panaceas proposed by those who would harvest from the seas, harness the winds, and farm the deserts are ignoring the fundamental premise that "the principals of ecology apply to all living things." These principles tell us that, within a finite system, economic expansion is not irreversible and population growth cannot continue indefinitely. If we disregard these facts, our sagging American Dream will soon shatter completely.

A workshop proceedings address questions that lead to a better understanding of the interaction between innovation and the environment and explored elements of "best practice" policies that can stimulate innovation for the environment and shift our development path towards sustainability.