Senator Gore (Tennessee), who was known as the environmental
candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination last time
around, says here that he strayed from that concentration when
pollsters steered him onto other issues - and that he now has
redirected himself to saving the earth. His book is not just
another roundup summary of threats to the environment, though it
does include chapters on water problems, deforestation, and the
genetic erosion of the global food supply, but it's a seemingly
heartfelt attempt to understand and convince those (politicians and
public) who deny the urgency of the problems and the need to act.
Gore has a roundabout way of making his points, often diluting
amazing quotes, facts, and stories by presenting them as examples
or asides within the abstract frameworks he constructs in his
indirect way of approaching the issues. He is fond of analogies,
but the analogies can be stretched far beyond their value to
illuminate - as in an entire chapter, "Dysfunctional Civilization,"
that goes on at length about dysfunctional families, addiction, and
co-dependency. And instead of using the familiar as analogy to
clarify a difficult concept, he often does the opposite - for
example, calling on chaos theory and Einstein's Theory of
Relativity ("Bear with me") to help us recognize the threshold for
dramatic change in our relationship to the environment. Yet on
particular issues he often gets caught up in conventional thinking
and fails to cut through with fresh ideas. Gore's concluding
recommendations for a global environmental strategy work as a
thoughtful position paper but are unlikely to inspire politicians
or popular action. Which, however, is not to dismiss the
desirability of getting Gore's agenda in motion. So consider buying
the book, displaying it, and hoping for the best. (Kirkus Reviews)
With over half a million copies of Earth in the Balance sold, this
timely re-issue benefits from a major new Foreword. It is a
powerful and passionate analysis of the most crucial and far
reaching issues confronting humanity. 'When I wrote this book,
terms like global warming and greenhouse gases seemed exotic,
unfamiliar, and unimportant to the lives of ordinary Americans.
That has changed dramatically - except for those who still want to
pretend that no one cares. There is a powerful awareness of the
danger, and a widespread determination that we must not and will
not leave our grandchildren a ravaged planet ringed with a
thickening layer of carbon dioxide concentrations. So we have to
strengthen, not weaken, environmental protection across the board,
from global warming to stabilizing world population. This was my
conclusion when this book was first published: We can believe in
that future and work to achieve it and preserve it, or we can whirl
blindly on, behaving as if one day there will be no children to
inherit our legacy. The choice is ours; the Environment Decade is
within our reach; the earth is in the balance.' AL GORE, December
1999 From the Foreword
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