Earth Rising: American Environmentalism In The 21St Century [Hardcover]

Philip Shabecoff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2, 2000 | ISBN-10: 1559635835 | ISBN-13: 978-1559635837 | Edition: 1

"The mission of environmentalism is to mobilize society at all levels to confront the danger and disorder into which human activity has propelled us and guide us to a safer, saner way of living on the planet.... Environmentalism has never been about catastrophe. It is about alternatives, about changing course, about transforming the future." - Philip Shabecoff, from Earth Risin.

Philip Shabecoff, America's preeminent environmental journalist, has spent more than two decades thinking and writing about the environment and related subjects, as a reporter for The New York Times, as publisher of Greenwire, and as the author of two books, including the critically acclaimed A Fierce Green Fire. In Earth Rising, he draws on that experience to offer a pointed and thought-provoking critique of the current state and future prospects of the American environmental movement.

Based on extensive interviews with a wide range of individuals both within and outside of the movement, Shabecoff elucidates the issues and problems confronting today's environmentalists and analyzes the movement's strengths and weaknesses. Viewing environmental threats as symptoms of flows in our society and its systems, he considers the urgent need for a broader, more inclusive environmentalism, and examines the role environmentalists can - and must - play in:

• reforming the education system
• taming the global economy and making it an instrument of human needs
• working for political reform, including reducing the influence of corporate spending on the electoral process
• directing the course of the scientific enterprise as well as making use of its results
• helping develop a new moral center for people throughout the nation and the world

Throughout, Shabecoff emphasizes the need for national organizations to link together with grassroots groups and to become more responsive to local concerns, and argues that the environmental movement has not yet adequately prepared itself to meet current and coming challenges. He makes a compelling case that another wave of environmentalism is needed - more powerful, diverse and sophisticated, visionary and flexible. Earth Rising offers a detailed road map that can guide environmentalists toward that new and reenergized place in society.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Philip Shabecoff, a science writer for The New York Times for three decades, has reported on hundreds of environmental battles and controversies, bringing them to the attention of millions of readers. But his good work and that of his fellow environmental journalists has, Shabecoff suggests, gone unheeded--not by the citizenry, who are overwhelmingly in favor of legal measures to protect the environment, but by the forces of industry, commerce, and the mainstream media, which have enormous financial stakes in preserving the status quo.

Environmental reportage, Shabecoff says, can only do so much in any event. After all, he notes, in the nearly 40 years since Rachel Carson warned in Silent Spring of the deadly effects of pesticides, "the use of synthetic substances that can sicken or kill people and wildlife has increased threefold." What is wanted, he urges in the pages of Earth Rising, is a well-coordinated "fourth wave" environmental movement that can bring aggressive political maneuvering, money, and irrefutable information to play against an array of foes. "Well-coordinated" is a key word, Shabecoff continues, for if at least 25 million Americans are involved in some way or another with environmental issues, either as grassroots activists or as dues-paying members of organizations from the Audubon Society to Earth First!, their efforts are not usually in concert, with the result that divide-and-conquer tactics on the part of, say, the logging and mining industries have often been successful.

"We yet have the capacity to forestall destruction," Shabecoff writes. But a more resourceful, more diverse, and stronger environmental movement must rise to prevent the destruction of the biosphere in this time of seemingly infinite, ever-expanding economic activity. That movement, Shabecoff continues, will need to do a better job of reaching out to labor, progressive industries, legislators, and the citizenry to forge the powerful alliances that are needed to assure clean air and water, healthy food, and other desiderata in the new century. His book offers plenty of practical advice on how such a movement can be formed, and activists and organizers will find plenty of ammunition in its well-reasoned pages. --Gregory McNamee

Product Details

• Hardcover: 258 pages
• Publisher: Island Press; 1 edition (February 2, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559635835
• ISBN-13: 978-1559635837
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,058,145 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Political Compass for Environmentalists, November 12, 2000

By 

Mark Wylie (Spokane, WA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Earth Rising: American Environmentalism In The 21St Century (Hardcover)

This very perceptive book establishes Philip Shabecoff as one of the top journalists of our time. In it he tries to outline a course for the environmental movement to take in the coming decades. What makes "Earth Rising" so important is Shabecoff's understanding that modern societies like the US are faced with three enormous and intertwined problems. Besides the environmental degradation that rightly concerns environmental activists, there is the increase in both social and economic inequality, as well as the dysfunctionality of our money-dominated political system. Shabecof argues that, since none of these problems can be solved in isolation, it is essential that the environmental movement become involved in dealing with all three--by, for example, working for reform of the political process--rather than focusing solely on their own set of specific issues.

If Shabecoff had done no more than make this point, his book would merit 5 stars for the skillful way he presents his case. But there is much more food for thought in the book. For example, recognizing that scientific analyses of environmental problems are crucial to understanding and solving them, Shabecoff calls on scientists to follow the lead of those who, like Edward O. Wilson and Richard Leakey, have become strong advocates of the environment and its importance.

Anyone who is concerned about environmental issues, or who considers themself an environmentalist, would learn a great deal from reading this book.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A depressing example of NYT journalism, September 13, 2007

By 

Arthur Digbee (Indianapolis, IN, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Earth Rising: American Environmentalism In The 21St Century (Paperback)

Philip Shabecoff is a reporter for the New York Times. You'd like him to be a hard-hitting investigative reporter, right? Well, on the evidence of this book he is actually a collator of press releases from environmentalists. In this book, he interviews a lot of environmentalists and believes everything they say. He quotes at length from interviews that are largely fund-raising appeals, talking about how you need to help the group NOW (i.e., send money) because Corporation X is DESTROYING THE ENVIRONMENT EVEN AS WE SPEAK. Shabecoff takes all this down, uncritically, and passes it on to us.

Our hero also does not seem to think that it would be a good idea to get the other side of the story. Here's an easy example. Shabecoff's friends tell him that evil corporations are cutting down the nation's forests. This is true. He could have asked a forestry company, or the US Forest Service, for a response. They would have told him that the total acreage of US forests is increasing and has been for several decades. This is also true, though Shabecoff doesn't seem to know it. Then he could have returned to his friends and asked for their response. They could have told him that the increase in forest cover consists of tree farms, mostly softwoods on a 30- or 50-year rotation, not healthy and diverse ecosystems. This is also true. Then Shabecoff could have asked the forestry corporation for another response, and they would have told him that tree farms nonetheless serve as carbon sinks, reducing global warming, and provide some other environmental services. This too is true. Just a few phone calls, and we would have had instant complexity.

Alas, you won't find any of that complexity in this book. Think of the trees that died to print it.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Earth Rising...., May 20, 2010

By 

Alan D. Capelle (Madison, WI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Earth Rising: American Environmentalism In The 21St Century (Paperback)

A very good historical overview of the Environmental Movement. It's a little dated today, but it provides an excellent historical context....