The Green Revolution: The Environmental Movement 1962-1992

by Kirkpatrick Sale, Eric Foner (Editor)

Overview

The Hill and Wang Critical Issues Series: concise, affordable works on pivotal topics in American history, society, and politics.

The Green Revolution documents the tremendous change in public awareness and attitudes since the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. Sale assesses the growth of national environmental organizations and the influence of scientists and their theories about global warming, the greenhouse effect, acid rain, toxic waste, and biodiversity. And he shows how environmental concerns affect all levels of society and much of our government's legislative and regulatory work.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780809015511
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	07/01/1993
Series:	Hill and Wang Critical Issues Series
Edition description:	1st ed
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.34(d)

About the Author

Kirkpatrick Sale, writer and lecturer, is a widely respected environmentalist. In addition to numerous articles, Sale has written some half-dozen books, including Dwellers in the Land and, most recently, The Conquest of Paradise: Christopher Columbus and Columbian Legacy.

Editorial Reviews

A book we've been waiting for without knowing it. This short but astute history chronicles the remarkable growth of the American environmental movement. In so doing, it yields some cautious hope that we're well started on the most profound—and most perilous—journey of our history.” —Bill McKibben

“The Green Revolution is at once a history and a critique of modern environmentalism. It is a virtual primer on current environmental politics. Like all of Sale's books, it is impassioned in its advocacy and provocative in its analysis.” —Richard White, University of Washington

“The Green Revolution is a fine, well-balanced, concise, up-to-date history of modern environmentalism. It fills a great gap and should be widely used in schools and colleges.” —George Sessions, Sierra College

“I doubt that any 108 pages in the English language come close to educating the reader about the environment—its despoilers and its defenders—as well as Kirkpatrick Sale's small volume. The Green Revolution is a tour de force. It is a brief but comprehensive, analytical but readable, insightful, factual, current but historical and futuristic.” —Ralph Nader

From the Publisher

Noted environmentalist Sale ( Dwellers in the Land ) here offers a brief but effective survey of American environmentalism. He cites Rachel Carson's 1962 Silent Spring as the spur to the modern environmental movement, then describes four periods of activism. During the ``protest generation'' years from 1962 to Earth Day in 1970, environmentalists focused on preserving nature for the preservation of man. During the 1970s, the ``doomsday decade,'' environmental groups formed a professionalized Washington power center, leading to much federal legislation. During ``the Reagan reaction'' years from 1980 to 1988, Sale argues, the United States ignored the growing environmental peril, cutting regulatory agencies, while veteran environmental groups became cautious insiders, prompting the growth of grassroots and radical activism. Though environmentalism has spread in the fourth, post-Reagan period, Sale warns that the earth is still in great danger. He suggests that environmentalists can continue to operate as a reformist citizens' lobby--though he doesn't cite a hierarchy of priorities, which would be useful--or they can address the much tougher question of our society's fundamental priorities. (July)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Sale ( The Conquest of Paradise: Christopher Columbus and the Columbian Legacy , LJ 10/15/90) briefly surveys the rapid growth of the American environmental crusade. As a participant in the Green Movement, Sale knows of what he writes. Citing the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring as the impetus to the movement, he divides the next 30 years into four periods: Sixties Seedtime, 1962-70; Doomsday Decade, 1970-80; The Reagan Reaction, 1980-88; and Endangered Earth, 1988-92. Organizations, legislation, events, and personalities comprise this story of a movement that has altered American consciousness and forever changed the way we live. It is a high drama of successes, failures, and unmet challenges, all presented in a lively, readable style. Recommended for lay readers.-- Patricia Owens, Wabash Valley Coll., Mt. Carmel, Ill.

Library Journal