Saving the Planet: The American Response to the Environment in the Twentieth Century (American Ways Series) [Paperback]

Hal K. Rothman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 2001 | ISBN-10: 156663301X | ISBN-13: 978-1566633017

Since 1900 Americans’ attitudes toward the world they inhabit have changed as greatly as their own way of life. As their pace quickened, as they left the rural world of their pre-industrial ancestors and moved to urban areas, Americans became enamored of the natural world, if only as a myth. In Saving the Planet, Hal Rothman explains why Americans now see in the environment a salvation of themselves and their society, and a respite from the pressures of modern life. Mr. Rothman traces the origins of environmentalism to the diverse reform currents of the 1890s and the conservation movement of the Progressive era. Focusing on the roles of advocacy groups, prominent activists, business, legislation, and the federal bureaucracy, he shows how the idea of conservation management was transformed after World War II into a program for “quality of life.” Driven largely by affluence, this revolution in American attitudes is, Mr. Rothman argues, one of many by-products of the decline in outright faith in technology. His cogent narrative history is punctuated throughout with accounts of crucial episodes in the growth of environmentalism—Hetch-Hetchy, the Echo Park Dam, the oil spill at Santa Barbara, Love Canal, and others.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

Rothman (Devils Bargains, not reviewed) examines the factors that have influenced Americans perceptions of their natural world over the last 100 years and explains how those factors have shaped and reshaped our national environmental consciousness. During the 20th century, Rothman argues, there grew an American sensibility that moved beyond the rhapsodizings and pleadings of Emerson, Thoreau, and Marsh to an active and protective embrace of nature, sometimes communally, if more often for individual motives. He charts that shift in outlook starting with the turn-of-the-century revulsion from the inequities wrought by industrialization: the skewed distribution of wealth and, particularly, the plunder of resources. Such disgust paved the way for Theodore Roosevelts Progressivism and Gifford Pinchots call to conservation. But this was a politics of bounty, contends Rothman, and when the economy faltered, we were happy to pillage nature anew to get things back on track: Witness Teapot Dome and the damming of the Colorado. In FDRs environmental ministeringsincluding the WPA and CCC as well as the TVARothman sees the eastern elitist approach, which, buttressed again by a boom economy, held sway into the coming decades. While he nods in passing to the zeitgeist, he too often ascribes the sparks that lit the countercultural environmental movement to prosperity and entitlement (call it ``full-stomach environmentalism'') and gives short shrift to ethical dimensions, ignoring the influential likes of Barry Commoner and Murray Bookchin. Better is his detailing of the effects of earlier defining momentsEcho Park Dam, Silent Springand the later local and grassroots efforts of such groups as the Love Canal Homeowners Association to establish a balanced approach to economic development and preservation and manifest a sense of decency and responsibility. A thoughtful tracking of the American environmental sympathies during this century that suffers only from its urge to grant the economy an imperious, overarching role. -- Copyright ©2000, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

A concise, balanced, and readable history of the conservation movement for the last hundred-plus years. (Katherine E. Gillen Kliatt )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Ivan R Dee (March 13, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156663301X
• ISBN-13: 978-1566633017
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,608,350 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You MUST own a copy of this book!!!!, May 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Saving the Planet: The American Response to the Environment in the Twentieth Century (American Ways Series) (Paperback)

This book is very well written and speaks not only to current environmental issues, but also to ones of the past. Everyone should have a copy of this book. When writing a paper on Rachel Carson's SILENT SPRING and the environmental movement of the 1960's, this book saved my life! The information was so helpful, and it really helped me to to understand the "Big Picture" behind environmentalism. My history teacher hopes to incorporate this text into the cirriculum next year. It is an excellent book, and is worth every penny!!!THANK YOU HAL ROTHMAN for this environmental masterpiece!