by Phillip Shabecoff
Reviewed by Caroline Pufalt
Less than two years into the new millennium, or less than one depending on your interpretation of the calendar, you are probably weary of forecasts, summaries and exhortations on the passage into the 21st century. I am too, but I recommend one more effort at millennial assessment as is found in Phillip Shabecoff’s book, Earth Rising.
Shabecoff is a former science and environmental writer for the New York Times who has had years of experience observing the environmental movement and how it has been covered in the U.S. media. In his book he seeks to evaluate the environmental movement, where it has been, how it has grown in numbers and scope and where is should be going to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Shabecoff’s past professional experience and his connections to many key environmental leaders, including the Sierra Club’s Carl Pope and Michael McCloskey, serve him well in this effort.
As Shabecoff briefly retraces the last 30 years of the environmental movement he provides an excellent overview of the issues, groups and personalities involved in its development and the dilemmas of the present. He sees solutions to environmental issues as tied to the related problems of social inequities, the hijacking of our political system by money and special interests and market dysfunction.
To make the changes needed for a sustainable society, we will need to be especially attuned to the needs of disadvantaged citizens. To achieve any change will require political and economic changes that can be only met if we have a more responsive political system. Economic forces have become more global, broadening the stage on which decisions are made. And some environmental issues are truly international, intertwining the fate of developed and developing countries.
For the average citizen wanting to be active in environmental issues this presents quite a challenge. We may want to protect a local wild area, reduce our use of material goods, or clean up city air, but now we seemed faced with national and global issues way beyond our reach.
But Shabecoff does not leave us so stranded. He points out the importance of local grassroots efforts carried out locally by members of national organizations such as the Sierra Club or groups formed around a single issue. Since all politics is local such efforts are essential to solving local problems and building a momentum for broader change.
Shabecoff’s challenge to national environmental groups is not without controversy. He evaluates our past, present and future prospects from a variety of angles, such as the economy, scientific research, community building and global issues. Although he embraces the goal of radical reform of values and priorities needed, he exhorts environmental leaders and all interested citizens to participate widely in mainstream work in politics, communities and international organizations. He urges environmental groups to get more into the mode of marketing themselves to a broader audience.
He acknowledges potential pitfalls in this approach, that of a diluted message, for example. But he says environmentalists cannot back off from the difficult problems of the policies of transition. We can envision a sustainable, environmentally benign society but how do we get there from here? In the middle is hard, grubby work.