Speaking of Earth: Environmental Speeches That Moved the World

by Alon Tal (Editor)

Overview

 

Bringing together twenty path-breaking speeches and the stories of leading environmentalists from around the world, Speaking of Earth highlights the range of topics and leaders who caught the attention of the public and inspired ecological movements.  The message that emerges is diverse, compelling, and passionate. Articulated through the words of fervent individuals who helped to launch a global transformation, this book offers a refreshing summary of the depth and breadth of modern environmentalism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813537276
Publisher:	Rutgers University Press
Publication date:	01/20/2006
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Alon Tal, winner of the 2005 Charles Bronfman Prize, is a professor of environmental policy at Ben Gurion University in Israel and a visiting professor of law at Otago University in New Zealand. He is the founder of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies and the Israel Union for Environmental Defense. His previous book is Pollution in a Promised Land: An Environmental History of Israel.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 
Preface      
1. "The Publication of Silent Spring Was Neither the Beginning Nor the End of That Struggle" Rachel Carson, United States of America, 1963
2. "A Land without Wildflowers Will Be a Hotel, Not a Homeland" Yizhar Smilansky, Israel, 1962
3. "If Man Is to Survive, the Ocean Is Not Dispensable" Thor Heyerdahl, Norway, 1972
4. "We Do Not Have to Believe in the Inevitability of Environmental Catastrophe to Accept the Possibility of Such a Catastrophe" Maurice Strong, Canada, 1972
5. "We Are the First, but We Are Not Likely to Be the Last" Lois Gibbs, United States of America, 1979
6. "Nuclear Weapons Are Morally Indefensible" David Lange, New Zealand, 1985
7. "I Too Am One of Those Who Cannot Live without Wild Things" Mongosuthu G. Buthulezi, South Africa, 1986
8. "The Question Now Is Simply Whether We Control Science or Whether Science Will Control Us" Mostafa Tolba, Egypt, 1987
9. "The Destruction of Our Rain Forest Affects Not Only the Brazilian People, but in Fact All the People of the Planet" Chico Mendes, Brazil, 1988
10. "The Prospect of Climate Change Is a New Factor in Human Affairs" Margaret Thatcher, United Kingdom, 1989
11. "If We Want to Transform Society in an Ecological Way, We Must Transform Ourselves" Petra Kelly, Germany, 1991
12. "Our Mother Earth Is Teaching Us a Lesson in Universal Responsibility" the Dalai Lama, Tibet, 1992
13. "The Sermon" David Brower, United States of America, 1992
14. "A Deadly Ecological War in Which No Blood Is Spilled but People Die All the Time" Ken Saro-Wiwa, Nigeria, 1993
15. "We Venture into Realms That Belong to God, and to God Alone" Charles, Prince of Wales, United Kingdom, 1996
16. "To Commit a Crime against the Natural World is a Sin" Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Turkey, 1997
17. "It's All about Taming Greed" Ian Kiernan, Australia, 1998
18. "Sharing and Exchange, the Basis of Our Humanity and Our Ecological Survival Has Been Redefined as a Crime" Vandana Shiva, India, 2000
19. "Problems Are Not Enough in Themselves to Create a Momentum for Change" Karl-Henrik Robert, Sweden, 2001
20. "The Challenge Is to Restore the Home of the Tadpoles and Give Back to Our Children a World of Beauty and Wonder" Wangari Maathai, Kenya, 2004
Index

Editorial Reviews

A compelling anthology of environmental speeches by prominent and articulate leaders from around the globe who share a deep and abiding concern for the earth and its inhabitants. They each 'speak a word for Nature' (Thoreau) at a time when it is sorely needed. Speaking of Earth is required reading for anyone who cares about the future of our planet-and especially for those who don't yet care enough.

Walden Woods Project - Don Henley

Speaking of Earth is a treasure trove of twenty inspiring speeches by environmentalists from around the world, ranging from Rachel Carson, to Chico Mendes, to Wangari Maathai. With Alon Tal's engaging biographical introductions, this book will be a welcome addition to the courses, coffee tables, and bookshelves of all those who would follow in their footsteps.

author of The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology, and the Scientific Revolution and - Carolyn Merchant

This book is required reading for every environmentalist.

past president of the Sierra Club - Adam Werbach

Alon Tal's Speaking of Earth provides the reader with a well-designed overview of the key issues facing those who seek to preserve our environment. Spanning a broad scope of notable sources, Tal's collection is a timely reminder of the tasks identified but yet unfulfilled. 

President Jimmy Carter

Tal (Pollution in a Promised Land) presents 20 momentous speeches by members of the world's environmental movement, beginning with Rachel Carson's 1963 address to the Garden Club of America and concluding with the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize lecture of Wangari Maathai, founder of Kenya's Green Belt Movement. As Tal points out, a well-crafted speech can sway an audience's opinion, and he offers excellent examples, such as a presentation on the state of our polluted oceans by Thor Heyerdahl and a moving lecture by Vandana Shiva on the threat multinational corporations pose to sustainability among the world's poor. A great speech can also have lasting political impact, as did Margaret Thatcher's 1989 address to the U.N. General Assembly on the dangers of global warming, Lois Gibbs's Love Canal testimony before a congressional subcommittee in 1979, and David Lange's 1985 argument at the Oxford Union debating forum, where he justified the establishment of New Zealand as a nuclear-free zone. Tal introduces each of his selections with a biographical vignette that highlights the speaker's talents, accomplishments and courage, effectively whetting the reader's appetite for what follows. 20 b&w photos. (Feb.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

A compelling anthology of environmental speeches by prominent and articulate leaders from around the globe who share a deep and abiding concern for the earth and its inhabitants. They each 'speak a word for Nature' (Thoreau) at a time when it is sorely needed. Speaking of Earth is required reading for anyone who cares about the future of our planet-and especially for those who don't yet care enough.

— Don Henley

Walden Woods Project