Product Description

In his monumental bestsellers, The Closing Circle and Science and Survival, Barry Commoner was one of the first scientists to alert us to the hideous environmental costs of our technological development. Now, twenty years later, Commoner reviews the vast efforts made in the public and private spheres to address and control the damage done and shows us why, despite billions of dollars spent to save the environment, we now find ourselves in an even deeper crisis. It is a book of hard facts and figures whose conclusion--that environmental pollution can be prevented only through fundamental redesign of the way we produce goods--demands basic changes all across America, from the highest offices in Washington, D.C., to your own kitchen garbage can.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1123585 in Books
• Published on: 1992-04
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 293 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Commoner's environmentalism is guided by a simple precept: "Preventing a disease is far more efficient than treating it." He argues that our misdirected, costly and ineffectual effort at environmental cleanup proves that "controlling" pollutants doesn't work--the pollutants must be eliminated from the production process itself, at the point of origin. To this end, he recommends, for starters, solar energy, ethanol fuel for cars, electric-powered autos, a massive recycling campaign, replacement of many petrochemical products by wood, cotton, paper and other ecologically sound materials. Commoner ( The Closing Circle ) recognizes that a massive redesign of our industrial, energy, transport and agricultural systems is a formidable task. It is also, he insists, the only way to reverse the suicidal assault on the planet waged by capitalist and socialist nations alike. Visionary yet specific, his urgent essay is a blueprint of our possible future and a beacon for the environmental struggles of the '90s.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Stephen Jay Gould, New York Times Book Review
I regard [Commoner] as right and compassionate on nearly every major issue.

New York Times
[Making Peace with the Planet] is a model of clarity, even for the reader who knows little about science.

Customer Reviews

Practical Blueprint for a Sustainable Future
Commoner's "peace" for the planet is a resolution of the conflict he describes as a "war between the ecosphere and the technosphere." He describes his objective quite well himself (pg 148 of the hard-cover edition): "The issue we face... is not how to facilitate environmental quality by limiting economic development..., but how to create a system of production that can grow and develop in harmony with the environment." And Commoner goes on to give specific examples of this harmonious system of production, well researched and documented. MAKING PEACE WITH THE PLANET is at its most inspiring when it offers practical ways to adapt (NOT downscale) our current lifestyle to move to more environmentally benign methods of sustaining ourselves. It is an essential addition to the library of anyone looking for practical solutions to today's environmental concerns. - Richard Warren Field, author of THE ELECTION, also available at amazon.com