A Contract with the Earth [Hardcover]

Newt Gingrich (Author), Terry L. Maple (Author), Edward O. Wilson (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0801887801 | ISBN-13: 978-0801887802 | Edition: 1

Focusing the environmental debate on the principle of common commitment, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and eminent conservationist Terry L. Maple present A Contract with the Earth. They declare a need for bipartisan environmentalism -- a new era of environmental stewardship with principles that they believe most Americans will share.

While acknowledging that liberals and conservatives do not see eye to eye on many issues, Gingrich and Maple argue successfully that environmental stewardship is a mainstream value that transcends partisan politics. Their thoughtful approaches to our environmental challenges are based on three main premises: environmental leadership is integral to America's role in the world, technologically savvy environmental entrepreneurs can and should be the cornerstone of environmental solutions, and cooperation and incentives must be dramatically increased to achieve workable and broadly supported environmental solutions.

Gingrich and Maple believe that most people -- regardless of how they categorize themselves politically -- are weary of the legal and political conflicts that prevent individuals and communities from realizing the benefits of environmental conservation. The foundation of the book -- a ten-point Contract with the Earth -- promotes ingenuity over rhetoric as the way forward.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Efforts to cleanse the world's air and water and to put a brake on calamitous climate change aren't exclusive to one political philosophy, Gingrich and Maple argue in this probusiness call for proenvironment action by politicians, corporations and individual Americans. Though the title echoes Gingrich's hard-right 1994 Contract with America, this more conciliatory contract reflects the former academic's penchant for bullet-point sloganeering, with its ten commitments call for politicians to abandon adversarial politics and for businessmen and conservationists to form compatible partnerships. The authors alternately brand their approach mainstream and entrepreneurial environmentalism—mainstream because it rejects alarmist projections based on what they perceive as activist science and hysterical journalism, and entrepreneurial because they reject the notion that free enterprise and a cleaner world are opposing forces. The authors' concern about the future of the Earth is certainly sincere, but their prescription for action breaks shallow ground. (Nov.)
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Review

"This serves as a useful reminder that the debate about environmental policy is far from over. Recommended for all libraries." -- Library Journal

"'Ten commitments' call for politicians to abandon adversarial politics and for businessmen and conservationists to form 'compatible partnerships.'" -- Publishers Weekly

"As a general proposal for protecting the Earth, A Contract with the Earth is a worthy read for the healthy debate it should stir." -- Internet Review of Books

"The book could be influential in guiding the public onto a commendable environmental path." -- Ecoviews

"A worthy read for the healthy debate it should stir." -- Bob Sanchez, Internet Review of Books

"Kudos to Newt Gingrich and Terry Maple... Let's hope their ideas take root and grow." -- Emmett Duffy, Natural Patriot

"Gore and Gingrich, both enjoying their 'elder' status, now must watch as their White House-hopeful juniors wrestle with their enviro-ideas. But here's a prediction: Those who follow Gingrich's techno-optimism will have an easier time than those who put on Gore's hair shirt." -- James P. Pinkerton, Newsday

"Gingrich offers some good ideas." -- E Magazine

"Give Newt a chance." -- Katherine Mieszkowski, Salon

"Offers a new approach to the challenges of the twenty-first century." -- NPR

"The book... has already garnered praise from the heads of such organizations as the Nature Conservatory and the Wildlife Society." -- Greg Rienzi, Gazette

"Lays out [Gingrich's] earth-saving agenda." -- Outside

"The fact that a Republican politician and a zoo executive have coauthored a book extolling the virtues of 'mainstream environmentalism'... underscores how much the green debate has shifted... A Contract with the Earth is an earnest call to deal with worldwide environmental problems, from disappearing species to ever-expanding roadside landfills." -- Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post Book World

"A Contract with the Earth is strong in outlining the tremendous proliferation of government/business environmental partnerships and the expansion of strategic, collaborative philanthropy on behalf of conservation." -- G. Tracy Mehan III, Weekly Standard

"Emphasizing that American entrepreneurship can best drive environmental solutions." -- Wildlife Conservation

"An important little book." -- Thomas E. Lovejoy, Bioscience

"Although the authors readily acknowledge the scale and immediacy of the multiple threats facing global biodiversity and do not dispute the science of climate change, their tone is positive, not grave; encouraging, not dispairing." -- Peter Ainsworth, Resurgence

"A bold initiative from an iconic conservative, offering proof that we could all stand united across traditional political boundaries as we forge the new ground rules for environmental survival." -- Thomas Eisner, National Medal of Science, 1994

"Gingrich and Maple describe a hopeful future for our natural environment based on the dozens of conservation partnerships, acts of profound generosity, and entrepreneurial innovations described in their book. Theirs is a book full of energy, fueled by people and organizations acting on a commitment to nature in their everyday lives." -- Steve McCormick, President, The Nature Conservancy

"Gingrich and Maple's A Contract with the Earth is an appeal for America -- its government, industry, universities, nonprofit organizations, and citizens -- to lead on environmental issues. Theirs is the kind of hopeful vision that has heretofore been missing from the discussion." -- Michael Hutchins, Executive Director, The Wildlife Society

"Newt's a guy who has spent a lot of time wrestling with climate change and the environment. He reads about it, he teaches about it, he writes about it. We don't see eye to eye about everything, obviously, but that's what makes for a good debate." -- Senator John F. Kerry, author of This Moment on Earth

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press; 1 edition (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801887801
• ISBN-13: 978-0801887802
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,279,197 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 40 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Big Business will not change simply for the sake of change October 29, 2007

By Gene Taft

Format:Hardcover

Whether you believe we've made tremendous progress in preserving our environment or believe we've made little progress, everyone should agree that there is still a lot more work to be done.

It's refreshing to hear new ideas, fresh ideas from such a familiar figure and such a strong voice for change.

A Contract with the Earth is all about the intersection of business and science.

After all, where would we be today if not for business and science pioneers like the Wright Brothers, Charles Lindbergh, Henry Ford and Thomas Edison? Although few and far between, entrepreneurs such as those men, and leaders like John F. Kennedy and his 1961 goal to go to the moon within a decade are the reasons that we live in the greatest country in the world. We are innovators. We are doers!

I ask all of you out there to reserve judgment on this book until you've read it, and reread it. After hearing another side of the debate, then, and only then can we intelligently enter into a discussion about the solutions to the obvious environmental dilemmas that face America and the World.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Feel-good eco-reading for political Conservatives August 26, 2009

By Marc Riese

Format:Paperback

This book starts with a laudable call for open-mindedness and for a middle ground of cooperation between Conservatives and Liberals, as the terms are understood in contemporary US politics. However, throughout the book this goal is severely compromised and the book ends with some close-minded, idealogical generalisations. Cooperation and problem-solving simply cannot take place if people allow their idealogies to exclude compromise. The book does offer some good ideas and is exceptional for several reasons: (1) it was apparently intended for Republicans as a positioning paper before the 2008 US election and subsequently extended with an epilogue; (2) Newt Gingrich is a well-known senior Republican; and (3) America is facing fundamentally important environmental problems in an age of radical political polarisation. The authors write: "Currently, liberal politicians operate as if they own the [environmental] issue; in their reaction, conservatives appear to disdain it. As the media overreacts to information and generates sensational headlines, mainstream American tunes out.... we are prone to... learned helplessness. We cope by doing nothing to change the situation [...and...] the problem only deepens." Environmental problems can be addressed by the "silent majority" in America through green conservatism, "a positive, entrepreneurial, market-based, solutions-oriented, mainstream environmental movement conducive to a pragmatic, nonpartisan public policy." But such a movement is in no way uniquely conservative, unless conservatism is defined as everything to the right of socialism. Who on earth is against solutions-oriented policy? Furthermore the authors' support of nuclear power (page 197) is pro-business but not conservative, because a real conservative never underestimates undesirable scenarios if they involve permanent damage to the country.

At a literal level, the book claims to call for objectivity and non-partisan cooperation at solving environmental problems. Unfortunately, this call lacks credibility. Newt Gingrich has a long partisan history. More importantly, the authors frequently lapse into simplistic partisanship by characterising liberals as doomsday environmentalists hostile to market-based solutions and lacking the common sense and ingenuity of conservatives. This is especially so in the epilogue, where the book abandons the pretence of objectivity and switches to ideological dogma. In the beginning of the book (page 13), regulation is admitted as a necessary evil. By the end of the book, regulation is simply evil. Another example article of anti-government mantras: the failure of Amtrack is uniquely due to it being government-run (this firmly held belief ignores all other factors, the failure of privatised railways of the UK and the success of government-run railways in many other OECD countries).

The book can best be understood as the authors' strong plea to conservatives (or Republicans) to let go of and be done with their disdain for environmentalism because maintaining this disdain would be bad for the earth, a missed opportunity for America and, above all, disastrous for the Republicans in future elections. The book was written in the context of the Republicans having problems at the polls and the set-back of the conservative movement. Nonetheless, the authors are usually well-informed and apparently sincere about their environmentalism. If Gingrich proves his sincerity through non-partisan actions in environmental politics, then his call for non-partisan, constructive cooperation should only be welcomed by all.

The authors occasionally sell ideas based on weak empirical data. The business case for carbon sequestration, obviously favoured by big carbon emitters, has become extremely questionable. The idea that reproductive rates stabilise as the affluence of a society increases is no longer certain (Nature, Mikko Marskyla, University of Pennsylvania). The growth of European carbon emissions from 2000 to 2004 was largely influenced by the entry of ten east-European countries to the European Union in 2002.

The chapters are informally structured around high-level themes (e.g. entrepreneurialism, philanthropy), with many interesting bits of information here and there. Regarding the contract referred to in the title, it is very general and abstract, and probably only used because of the intended association with Gingrich's "Contract with America" of 1994. All of the contract's ten articles ("commitments") are obvious: science should be objective and "sound" (amazing!), government can not solve problems alone, people should cooperate etc. None of the contract's ideas are uniquely conservative, again unless conservative is defined as everything that is not socialist. It certainly does not hurt for more people to learn about reducing, reusing and recycling.

Gingrich wants to win over Republicans. He formulates his text to be pleasing for this audience, especially by way of verbose emphasis of what they like to hear (e.g. government policies can be poor) and concise and qualified admissions about what they do not like to hear (e.g., government is necessary). He does admit that unpleasantness must be addressed (no details), but he couches this in a patriotic reminder of how Americans traditionally unite to face adversity (no details). The authors are correct that an overly pessimistic outlook will not sell: "To inspire others to achieve, we must continue to express optimism." However, optimism without clearly exemplary behaviour is worthless, and exemplary behaviour means radical change for individuals. The authors avoid spelling out the wrenching changes that this means. Surely the reader can accept something more than just feel-good.

Again and again (and again) the reader learns that limited government, tax incentives and "prizes" are better alternatives than any form of regulation. This is quite true in many areas, but dangerously unrealistic for great swaths of environmental areas such as international waters, i.e., about two thirds of the planet's surface area. The authors imply (page 194) that the havoc wreaked by trawling can be solved generally if local environmentalist groups simply group together, "purchase the trawling boats" and "buy out each trawler's business". Most local environmental groups would have difficulty buying out a local canoe rental shop and have no chance against giant fishing concerns.

Many pages of nice sounding examples are given, but nice-sounding examples are not statistics. It's a fine thing to learn that something is being done well by some organisation for some specific issue (e.g., that the State of Massachusetts "prefers" to use environmentally friendly cleaning products), but the reader usually doesn't get sufficient contextual information to know whether substantial problems are solved comprehensively. Thus the abundant examples start as inspirational but end up sounding unconvincing. Somewhere buried in the text (page 96) the authors admit that "some caution is advised, as some of these efforts may be regarded as little more than public relations devices." One heartily agrees with this warning, especially with regards to the automobile and oil corporations. The authors are irritatingly pussy-footing about criticising any specific company. If their optimistic approach excludes the possibility of pointing out failure, then it won't work.

The style is tiresome. Much is written in clichés. The following example is not exceptional: "Our environment's current state represents both a unique challenge and a golden opportunity. If we respond with the ingenuity and diligence consistent with our national heritage and our sense of duty, we will not only resolve our environmental problems, but we will also launch an unprecedented epoch of economic prosperity." Undoubtedly the experienced Gingrich also reverts to this wooden style in order to avoid the risk of bad sounding quotes out of context. The book has a lot of good things to say, but granted the style, it is fortunate that the book is short.
As The Economist has always argued, simple taxation of carbon emissions would be the most efficient answer, but that would be unacceptable for ideologues. So much for being "solution-oriented" and "pragmatic".

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Contract with the Earth-a refreshing review of the facts February 19, 2008

By Douglas Matheson

Format:Hardcover

Gingrich and Maple have created a well thought out bipartisan plan to "save the earth" from exploitation by people who, knowingly or unknowingly are in the process of destroying the environment. Historically Dr. Terry Maple dragged Zoo Atlanta from the abyss and created one of the finest exhibits in the world. Dr. Gingrich, former speaker of the U.S. House and college professor has a vivid imagination for change (real change) and shows his adroit imagination in this work. These men offer many solutions from problems with animal waste to saving plants and animals for future generations to enjoy. I read the book and also listened to an audiobook version. Both are very enjoyable-I urge people of all ages to enjoy this very timely work. Douglas W. Matheson Professor Emeritus University of the Pacific. Stockton, CA