The Environmental Dilemma--Optimism or Despair? [Hardcover]

Lambert N. Wenner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0761807047 | ISBN-13: 978-0761807049

For countless millenia humans extended their domain around the world, gradually using more of nature's resources. High death rates from famine, disease, and other perils restricted population growth. Since 1800, innovations in science, energy, medicine, transportation, communication, farm and factory production, marketing beliefs, customs, and social relationships have drastically altered both natural and cultural environments. Globally, death rates have fallen dramatically without equivalent reductions in birth rates while per-capita consumption of many natural resources has increased. Many global trends are unsustainable and prompt action is needed to avoid calamities in the decades ahead. Expanding environmental programs mitigate many trends but fail to reverse most of them. Rival factions differ on the costs and benefits of development. Some people have grave concerns about pollution, waste disposal, forest and wetland depletion, species extinction, crowding, food shortages, and a resurgence of epidemic diseases, but others downplay these fears and oppose regulatory solutions. We humans have the technology, knowledge, and resources to resolve our dilemma, but lack the consensus and commitment. It is what we accomplish that counts, not what we boast of being able to do. Failure to act now can cost future generations much more than it would cost now. Environmental information is cast and expanding, but often highly technical, narrowly focused, or self-serving, underscoring the need to summarize, integrate, and interpret findings for concerned publics.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Although it plays a valuable role as a textbook, it is also a work that will--or should--be of interest to anyone who cares about the environment.>>>> (Statesman Journal )

Readers seeking a non-technical summary of environmental trends, issues, perspective, and proposed solutions will find this book a useful and convenient source for a quick, well written summary of key issues.>>>> (Rural Sociology )

...this is a very useful primer which undergraduates and even the general reader could find informative and a valuable up to date introduction to the broader literature.>>>> (Damian White Environmental Politics )

Broadly descriptive and carefully worded. Wenner presents a balanced treatment.>>>> (Choice )

Broadly descriptive and carefully worded. Wenner presents a balanced treatment. (Choice )

Although it plays a valuable role as a textbook, it is also a work that will--or should--be of interest to anyone who cares about the environment. (Statesman Journal )

Readers seeking a non-technical summary of environmental trends, issues, perspective, and proposed solutions will find this book a useful and convenient source for a quick, well written summary of key issues. (Rural Sociology )

...this is a very useful primer which undergraduates and even the general reader could find informative and a valuable up to date introduction to the broader literature. (Damian White Environmental Politics )

About the Author

Lambert N. Wenner is a social and environmental impacts consultant in Salem, Oregon and a retired Professor of Sociology and Anthropology.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 258 pages
• Publisher: University Press Of America (March 13, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761807047
• ISBN-13: 978-0761807049
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,688,293 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Broadly descriptive and carefully worded., July 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Environmental Dilemma--Optimism or Despair? (Paperback)

Wenner aims to provide a "sound, unbiased, interdiscipinary assessment of social and environmental trends" in order to build support for "reasonable efforts to protect our quality of life." The first half of the book describes the causes and consequences of rapid population growth and increased consumption of natural resources, while the second half considers various assessors of the state of the environment from despairing environmentalists to technological optimists. The major dilemma arises from the dual role technology as a source of population growth and environmental degradation. Broadly descriptive and carefully worded to deflect challenges, the book seems designed to encourage the uncommitted US reader to support corrective actions and to cooperate in international efforts. "Pertinent readings" are given in endnotes and a few books by "environmentalists", "progrowth advocates", and "intermediaries" are ! summarized in the text. Appendixes include some limited population data and a listing of international environmental initiatives since 1972. Wenner presents a balanced treatment. General readers; lower division undergraduates.

4.0 out of 5 stars A quick, well-written summary of key issues., July 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Environmental Dilemma--Optimism or Despair? (Paperback)

Wenner paints with a broad brush concerning environmental trends, the impacts of these trends, and the search for solutions to environmental problems. This is no small accomplishment, given the interdisciplinary nature of the issues, the attention to detail required to state the issues correctly, and the necessity of providing appropriate examples. His overview encourages readers to take a historical, worldly perspective, and to be aware of how their particular interest in the environment fit into a much larger and more complex picture. For example, his brief treatment of colonialism includes the main period of colonialism, the nations that dominated the governments and economies of much of the world, and the common justifications colonial powers used to justify their dominance. Wenner also explains the various ways foreign powers exploited indigenous peoples, and he summarizes the current status of most countries formerly under colonial rule, as well as the lasting imp! act of colonialism on most countries. Few courses of study on the social change in developing countries cover teh issues so efficiently. I also appreciated Wenner's summation of pivotal books that popularized the environmental movement and recent books providing both optimistic and pessimistic views fo environmental problems and their solutions. Wenner is careful to present various arguments about environmental issues, and he avoids suggesting that participants in environmental conflicts can be simplified into "good guys" and "bad guys". The scenarios chosen to illustrate the issues and perspectives are realistic and neither alarmist or pollyanish. His coverage of international, state, and local actions effective in solving environmental problems is likely to be new information to rural and environmental sociologists who tend to focus on organizational decision making and the subsequent environmental repercussions. He concludes that, in many cases, the! re is sufficient agreement among scientists, country leader! s, and citizens to work cooperatively to limit population growth, distribute natural resources in a more equitable manner, and maintain current environmental quality. I recommend this book for introductory and background reading in undergraduate courses on rural issues, international development, and the environment. Readers seeking a non-technical summary of environmental trends, issues, perspective, and proposed solutions will find this book a useful and convenient resource for a quick, well-written summary of key issues.

5.0 out of 5 stars Of interest to anyone who cares about the environment, August 9, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Carlton, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Environmental Dilemma--Optimism or Despair? (Hardcover)

By Dan Hayes, Salem, OR Statesman Journal.

Like many persons who really care about the natural world, Dr. Lambert N. Wenner is spending his retirement in Oregon. But his interest in nature goes beyond mere environment. He received his Ph.D. at Syracuse U. in 1970 and since has amassed an impressive resume in a number of disciplines, all of them tied into environmental studies and the ways in which human activities affect the world.

In an attempt to pass on what he has learned, he has written this book. It was published by the University Press of America and is being sold mostly as an academic textbook, but it wasn't written in textbook style. Although it plays a valuable role as a textbook, it is also a work that will - or should - be of interest to anyone who cares about the environment.

Wenner says his primary reason for writing the book was "to present a broad interdisciplinary view of U.S. and world population growth, consumption trends and environmental impacts." In other words, he hoped to help people find an objective perspective for the information they have, to aid readers in truly understanding the history of the interaction of man and Earth and help them to develop practical solutions to the present environmental crisis.

He does all that. His book is objective. As a nearly unique bonus, it also posits possible solutions to create the least social disruptions while genuinely dealing with solving environmental problems.

Wenner's style heavily is weighted to the academic, but that doesn't obscure his powerful and cogent message. This book provides clear information. And it doesn't pull any punches. In the spirit of Pogo's "We have met the enemy, and he is us," Wenner states the care of the problem simply:
"Our technological potential is impressive, but in the final analysis it is what we accomplish that counts, not what we boast of being able to do."