Fight for the Bay: Why a Dark Green Environmental Awakening is Needed to Save the Chesapeake Bay

by Howard R. Ernst

Overview

In this important new book on the declining health of one of America's leading environmental treasures, Howard Ernst reveals a Chesapeake bay that has become functionally dead. He argues that the Chesapeake Bay succumbed to a 'light green' environmental movement that has too often adopted a philosophy of compromise over confrontation and that has fueling a 'political dead zone' where political leaders posture but fail to make the hard decisions needed to achieve real improvement in the Bay's health. While blunt in his evaluation of past and present failures to restore the Bay, Ernst believes that there is still time to turn the restoration effort around and sets out new 'dark green' strategies to do so. In the concluding chapter, five long-time bay activists provide first-person accounts of their battles and hopes for the future. Hailed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as 'a must read for anyone concerned about environmental protection,' this challenging book provides a wake-up call for everyone concerned about the future of the Chesapeake Bay and other ecological treasures through out America.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780742563230
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	11/16/2009
Pages:	164
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Howard R. Ernst, professor of political science at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, is the author of Chesapeake Bay Blues.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Preface Chapter 2 Acknowledgments Chapter 3 Chapter 1: Debunking the Light Green Paradigm Chapter 4 Environmental Conflict: A Clash of Values Chapter 5 Dark Green Environmental Thought Chapter 6 Light Green Environmental Thought Chapter 7 Cornucopian Thought Chapter 8 The Political Dead Zone Chapter 9 Chapter 2: The Polite Politics of Light Green Environmentalism Chapter 10 Environmental Economics 101 Chapter 11 The Long Struggle for Sensible Environmental Management Chapter 12 Recent Developments in Regional Management Chapter 13 A Model of Success or a Model of Deception? Chapter 14 The Sticky Sweet Stuff of Light Green Environmental Promises Chapter 15 Chapter 3: Environmental Journalists, Our Endangered Filter Feeders Chapter 16 Why Environmental Journalism Matters Chapter 17 The State of Journalism in America Chapter 18 The State of Environmental Journalism in America Chapter 19 Understanding the Environmental Beat Chapter 20 Goals of the Environmental Reporter Chapter 21 Elements of Career Success for Environmental Journalists Chapter 22 How Editors View Their Readers Chapter 23 Chapter 4: Environmental Advocacy in the Dead Zone Chapter 24 In Defense of Sacred Places Chapter 25 The Belly of the Beast Chapter 26 The Outside Game Chapter 27 Media Master Chapter 28 The Last Word Chapter 29 Notes Chapter 30 References Chapter 31 Index Chapter 32 About the Authors

What People are Saying About This

Hedrick Smith

Like Paul Revere, Howard Ernst calls us to arms—to rescue our birthright to a clean environment. Our great waterways are 'functionally dead,' he warns, maimed by 'raw greed, political hypocrisy' and well-intentioned but weak-kneed environmentalists. It is time, Ernst declares, to mount a 'dark green' revolution against our 'political dead zone' and reclaim our birthright. And he points the way.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Ernst's new concept—the political dead zone—will change the way people think about environmental politics. This book is a must-read for anyone concerned with environmental protection.

Bill McKibben

I read with special interest the chapter on environmental journalism, which describes with accuracy and wisdom the dangerous decline of reporting in this area. It's clearly a major reason why progress is so halting and slow when it happens at all.

Editorial Reviews

Like Paul Revere, Howard Ernst calls us to arms—to rescue our birthright to a clean environment. Our great waterways are 'functionally dead,' he warns, maimed by 'raw greed, political hypocrisy' and well-intentioned but weak-kneed environmentalists. It is time, Ernst declares, to mount a 'dark green' revolution against our 'political dead zone' and reclaim our birthright. And he points the way.

Hedrick Smith

Howard Ernst has done it again, creating a stunning mosaic of politics, policy, and the environment. Nobody writes about environmental politics with more clarity or understanding than Ernst.....

Dr. Larry Sabato

The general public may largely view environmentalists as all being green, but author Howard Ernst points out in his latest book that the conservation community is far from a monolithic block. Rather, environmentalists come in all shades of green and he argues that the shade of green that dominates political debate could determine the future of the Chesapeake in, Fight for the Bay.

Bay Journal

Ernst concisely details the irony of an ecosystem once remarkably productive, precisely because of its nutrient-rich waters, becoming threatened by excessive nutrients.... Recommended.

Choice Reviews

He is best known for his work in the area of environmental politics and is considered a leading authority on the Chesapeake Bay restoration program.

The Evening Sun

Ernst is back with a new book, called Fight for the Bay , striking out in some new directions with sharpening important insights that have turned out to be true.. .. Ernst plows new ground in tackling a fact many Americans haven't yet realized: The decline of newspaper investigative reporting will affect their lives, their well-being, and their environment.

Bay Weekly

Ernst concisely details the irony of an ecosystem once remarkably productive, precisely because of its nutrient-rich waters, becoming threatened by excessive nutrients.... Recommended.

August 2010 Choice Reviews

Ernst is devoted to elucidating both obvious and subtle aspects of the catastrophic transformation of the Chesapeake Bay from a vast, fecund 'ecological treasure' into a dead zone, first in Chesapeake Bay Blues (2003), and now in this eye-opening inquiry into the failure to restore the Bay, in spite of the spawning of 600-plus environmental groups and the allocation of huge amounts of money.. .. Ernst’s incisive and thought-provoking study pinpoints the sticking points holding up environmental progress and offers a do’s-and-don’ts primer to effective action.

December 2009 Booklist

Ernst’s Fight for the Bay is an incisive look at an important ecosystem and what communities everywhere can learn from it. Researchers, environmentalists, and political activists of all kinds may find it an enlightening read.

March 2010 The Futurist

Professor Ernst's new concept—the political dead zone—will change the way people think about environmental politics. This book is a must-read for anyone concerned with environmental protection.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Ernst’s Fight for the Bay is an incisive look at an important ecosystem and what communities everywhere can learn from it. Researchers, environmentalists, and political activists of all kinds may find it an enlightening read.

The Futurist

I read with special interest the chapter on environmental journalism, which describes with accuracy and wisdom the dangerous decline of reporting in this area. It's clearly a major reason why progress is so halting and slow when it happens at all.

Bill McKibben

Ernst concisely details the irony of an ecosystem once remarkably productive, precisely because of its nutrient-rich waters, becoming threatened by excessive nutrients.... Recommended.

August 2010 CHOICE

This short and straightforward book calls for regulatory, legislative and enforcement action to protect the Chesapeake . . . Ernst's discussion of the different mind-sets of what he calls cornucopians, light-green and dark-green environmentalists, is provocative and insightful . . . Fight for the Bay is a compelling book that may one day be viewed as the Chesapeake's counterpart to Silent Spring .

The Capital

The general public may largely view environmentalists as all being green, but author Howard Ernst points out in his latest book that the conservation community is far from a monolithic block. Rather, environmentalists come in all shades of green and he argues that the shade of green that dominates political debate could determine the future of the Chesapeake in, Fight for the Bay.

Chesapeake Bay Journal

Ernst concisely details the irony of an ecosystem once remarkably productive, precisely because of its nutrient-rich waters, becoming threatened by excessive nutrients.... Recommended.

August 2010 Choice

Howard Ernst has done it again, creating a stunning mosaic of politics, policy, and the environment. Nobody writes about environmental politics with more clarity or understanding than Ernst.

Larry Sabato

Ernst is devoted to elucidating both obvious and subtle aspects of the catastrophic transformation of the Chesapeake Bay from a vast, fecund 'ecological treasure' into a dead zone, first in Chesapeake Bay Blues (2003), and now in this eye-opening inquiry into the failure to restore the Bay, in spite of the spawning of 600-plus environmental groups and the allocation of huge amounts of money. . . . Ernst’s incisive and thought-provoking study pinpoints the sticking points holding up environmental progress and offers a do’s-and-don’ts primer to effective action.

Booklist December 2009

In 2003, Hunt, a political science professor at the U.S. Naval Academy, issued a wakeup call with his polemic Chesapeake Bay Blues, arguing that "politics as usual" was leading to "continued environmental degradation." Six years later, the situation is worse; Chesapeake Bay is "functionally dead," and the problem has gone global. Distinguishing between the more confrontational approach of the "Dark Greens" and the moral arguments of the "Light Greens," Ernst argues that differences in the movement have contributed to the ability of opposing "Cornucopians" to push an agenda of pure economic self-interest. The largest environmental interest group in the Bay region, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, refuses to engage in electoral politics while the Bay's biggest polluters, such as the poultry industry, use their money to get pro-industry candidates into office: "the Perdue family alone spent more in one recent election... than the combined spending of all environmental groups across the three key Bay states during the same period of time." Still, there are many individuals and organizations doing important work, and Ernst chronicles their struggles in detail. A passionate call to action from a longtime activist (Ernst is currently in his 80s), this read will shock and inspire a range of concerned citizens, from homeowners to journalists to lawmakers.
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Publishers Weekly

Ernst is devoted to elucidating both obvious and subtle aspects of the catastrophic transformation of the Chesapeake Bay from a vast, fecund 'ecological treasure' into a dead zone, first in Chesapeake Bay Blues (2003), and now in this eye-opening inquiry into the failure to restore the Bay, in spite of the spawning of 600-plus environmental groups and the allocation of huge amounts of money.. .. Ernst’s incisive and thought-provoking study pinpoints the sticking points holding up environmental progress and offers a do’s-and-don’ts primer to effective action.

Booklist

Ernst concisely details the irony of an ecosystem once remarkably productive, precisely because of its nutrient-rich waters, becoming threatened by excessive nutrients.... Recommended.

Choice