Getting to the Source

The environmental crisis has returned to public consciousness in a big way, with Al Gore and Senator John Kerry talking it up. The long history of environmental awareness in the U.S. has been punctuated by stunning essays from a variety of environmental writers, from Aldo Leopold and Rachel Carson to E.O. Wilson and Daniel Quinn. The newly discounted Getting to the Source contains a rich sampling from the literature on environmental values. The book offers a collection of thirty essays by prominent environmental writers. The contributions have been selected for their relevance to the philosophical and ethical aspects of the subject, for their eloquence in expressing Earth values, and for their special insights and understandings of what we must do to create a sustainable future for humanity. Samples of the writings of environmental luminaries such as Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, E. O. Wilson, Wendell Berry, and Garrett Hardin are provided, along with contributions from many additional writers, offering a variety of perspectives. The issues discussed are critical in framing public policy and informing debate on future directions. Setting the stage for the essays to follow, environmental writer Bill McKibben offers this provocative opening statement: "The fate of our planet will be determined in the next few decades, through our technological, lifestyle, and population choices." McKibben's article provides an eloquent assessment of humanity's predicament and offers suggestions for how we might extricate ourselves from it. News reporter Dianne Dumanoski describes the state of our global environment and assesses the effectiveness of human actions to protect it, offering strong words of criticism for the environmental movement. After over thirty years of effort, a few things are better but many more are worse, and getting worse at an accelerating pace. "What went wrong?," she asks. Additional essays-on growth by Al Bartlett, extinction by E. O. Wilson, the peaking of world oil production by Kenneth Deffeyes, and the overall decimation of the environment at the hands of humans by Gene Marine-illustrate the depth of the difficulties we face. Daniel Quinn, author of Ishmael, begins his essay with this provocative statement: "During your lifetime, the people of our culture are going to figure out how to live sustainably on this planet--or they're not." He claims that the transition to sustainability, if it occurs will be a "new rennaissance," a shift of thinking the likes of which we have not seen since 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries.