Trashing the Planet: How Science Can Help Us Deal with Acid Rain, Depletion of the Ozone, and Nuclear Waste (among Other Things)

by Dixy Lee Ray, Lou Guzzo Narrated by Jeff Riggenbach

Overview

Trashing the Planet is the one book you need to get a commonsense grasp on the contentious issues of environmentalism, where science and politics overlap and well-meaning idealism turns to counterproductive ecoterrorism. Dixy Lee Ray, a marine biologist and former chair of the Atomic Energy Commission, calls for environmentalists to regain a sense of perspective and not let their ardor carry them into the realm of “noble lies.” Dr. Ray exposes how little the public knows about the environment, how piddling are man's influences upon it-volcanoes shoot more pollutants into the atmosphere than do all of man's industrial activities-and how complex are the interactions of natural phenomena. Reminding us that “a well-tended garden is better than a neglected woodlot,” Trashing the Planet is a breath of fresh air in the current debate dominated by rhetorical extremism.

Editorial Reviews

Library Journal

Some of the authors' major premises are that nuclear power is a safe and cheap source of energy; that acid rain is a vastly exaggerated problem; that chemical pesticides are not as dangerous as they have been made out to be; and that worry over the ozone hole is just an environmental scare tactic. Ray, a marine biologist, former chair of the Atomic Energy Commission, and Washington's governor when Mount St. Helens erupted, has a long history of offending conservationists, and most of this book, written with Guzzo, a writer and adviser to Ray during her governorship, is a recitation of statistics and research studies that prove her points. This recitation makes the book tedious, and it is troubling that there are no footnotes or bibliography. A researcher could spend weeks trying to search out the studies mentioned. Nevertheless, libraries may want this as an alternative to the growing mass of green literature.-- Sue McKimm, Cuya hoga Cty. P.L., Cleveland

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169545449
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	11/01/2011
Edition description:	Unabridged

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