Trashing the Planet

Trashing the Planet is the one book you need to get a commonsense grasp on the contentious issues of environmentalism, where science and politics overlap and well-meaning idealism turns to counterproductive ecoterrorism. Dixy Lee Ray, a marine biologist and former chair of the Atomic Energy Commission, calls for environmentalists to regain a sense of perspective and not let their ardor carry them into the realm of "e;noble lies."e; Dr. Ray exposes how little the public knows about the environment, how piddling are man's influences upon it-volcanoes shoot more pollutants into the atmosphere than do all of man's industrial activities-and how complex are the interactions of natural phenomena. Reminding us that "e;a well-tended garden is better than a neglected woodlot,"e; Trashing the Planet is a breath of fresh air in the current debate dominated by rhetorical extremism.