Wisdom for a Livable Planet: The Visionary Work of Terri Swearingen, Dave Foreman, Wes Jackson, Helena Norberg-Hodge, Werner Forn

(Paperback)

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The author profiles the work of eight visionaries who have dedicated their lives to various environmental issues. Each story provides a portrait of an individual's valiant and inspiring campaign to improve the conditions for life on our planet. Taken together, the work of these people points the way toward creating an ecologically centered civilization in which a brighter future for all life, including human, is possible.
*Terri Swearingen takes on one of the world's largest hazardous waste incinerators burning toxic waste next door to an elementary school.
*Stephen Schneider establishes the scientific basis for climate change
*Herman Daly advocates a dynamic steady-state economy that respects the laws of nature and human behavior.
*David Orr champions educational reform to make universities a place where students learn how to be environmentally aware citizens
*Werner Fornos works toward empowering every person with the knowledge and means to decide when and how many children to have
*Helena Norberg-Hodge champions local living with appropriate technologies to enhance our spiritual and ecological well-being.
*Wes Jackson promotes sustainable agriculture based on local ecology and community values
*Dave Foreman leads the effort to rewild almost half of North America with wolves, mountain lions, jaguars, falcons, and others to restore functional ecosystems and preserve biodiversity.

Reviews

"A supremely important book about some of the leaders in the battle to maintain our life support systems. Read it and be inspired and thankful." -- Paul R. Ehrlich

"Contains a number of home truths, calmly and moderately enunciated, that point the way toward a world more sturdy and robust than the troubled one we now inhabit. It is a kind of primer for twenty-first-century citizenship, and well worth the reading." -- Bill McKibben

Author Bio

Carl N. McDaniel is a professor of biology emeritus at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, where he was the founding director of the undergraduate environmental science degree program. He initially studied insect and then plant development, but his scholarly interests shifted to the interface between biology and economics. He coauthored, with economist John M. Gowdy, Paradise for Sale: A Parable of Nature. He lives in Oberlin, Ohio.