A Climate of Crisis : America in the Age of Environmentalism MOBI, TXT
9780143127017 English 0143127012 'Crisis' is almost an axiom in today's environmental dialogues, evoking everything from endangered species to climate change. While historian Patrick Allitt acknowledges the need for concern, he contends that this mood of anxiety has sometimes eclipsed the facts. In A Climate of Crisis , he offers a provocative history of the U.S. environmental movement - from nuclear fears to antipollution protests to ozone and carbon politics - showing that great progress has been made in air and water quality, health, living standards, and life expectancy, despite exaggeration and fear-mongering from all sides that have sometimes obscured it. Ambitious yet concise, A Climate of Crisis challenges our basic assumptions about the environment, no matter what our politics - reminding us that all-too-present answers are sometimes found in questioning the past. 'In this sweeping study, Patrick Allitt covers every conceivable major character and event in the modern 'age of environmentalism' . . . In linking past to present, Allitt offers caution about what might unfold in the days to come.' Martin V. Melosi, author of The Sanitary City and Precious Commodity 'In recounting partisan battles, Mr. Allitt's objectivity is refreshing.' The Wall Street Journal, A provocative history of the environmental movement in America, showing how this rise to political and social prominence produced a culture of alarmism that has often distorted the facts Few issues today excite more passion or alarm than the specter of climate change. In A Climate of Crisis , historian Patrick Allitt shows that our present climate of crisis is far from exceptional. Indeed, the environmental debates of the last half century are defined by exaggeration and fearmongering from all sides, often at the expense of the facts. In a real sense, Allitt shows us, collective anxiety about widespread environmental danger began with the atomic bomb. As postwar suburbanization transformed the American landscape, more research and better tools for measurement began to reveal the consequences of economic success. A climate of anxiety became a climate of alarm, often at odds with reality. The sixties generation transformed environmentalism from a set of special interests into a mass movement. By the first Earth Day in 1970, journalists and politicians alike were urging major initiatives to remedy environmental harm. In fact, the work of the new Environmental Protection Agency and a series of clean air and water acts from a responsive Congress inaugurated a largely successful cleanup. Political polarization around environmental questions after 1980 had consequences that we still feel today. Since then, the general polarization of American politics has mirrored that of environmental politics, as pro-environmentalists and their critics attribute to one another the worst possible motives. Environmentalists see their critics as greedy special interest groups that show no conscience as they plunder the earth while skeptics see their adversaries as enemies of economic growth whose plans stifle initiative under an avalanche of bureaucratic regulation. There may be a germ of truth in both views, but more than a germ of falsehood too. America's worst environmental problems have proven to be manageable; the regulations and cleanups of the last sixty years have often worked, and science and technology have continued to improve industrial efficiency. Our present situation is serious, argues Allitt, but it is far from hopeless. Sweeping and provocative, A Climate of Crisis challenges our basic assumptions about the environment, no matter where we fall along the spectrum--reminding us that the answers to our most pressing questions are sometimes found in understanding the past., Few topics incite more passion and controversy than the idea of climate change. Historian Patrick Allitt argues that a mood of anxiety has long surrounded environmental issues, often eclipsing important realities. In A Climate of Crisis, he offers a provocative history of American environmentalism: from nuclear fears to antipollution protests. He argues that great progress has been made in health, living standards and life expectancy, despite exaggeration and fear-mongering from all sides that have obscured it.
9780143127017 English 0143127012 'Crisis' is almost an axiom in today's environmental dialogues, evoking everything from endangered species to climate change. While historian Patrick Allitt acknowledges the need for concern, he contends that this mood of anxiety has sometimes eclipsed the facts. In A Climate of Crisis , he offers a provocative history of the U.S. environmental movement - from nuclear fears to antipollution protests to ozone and carbon politics - showing that great progress has been made in air and water quality, health, living standards, and life expectancy, despite exaggeration and fear-mongering from all sides that have sometimes obscured it. Ambitious yet concise, A Climate of Crisis challenges our basic assumptions about the environment, no matter what our politics - reminding us that all-too-present answers are sometimes found in questioning the past. 'In this sweeping study, Patrick Allitt covers every conceivable major character and event in the modern 'age of environmentalism' . . . In linking past to present, Allitt offers caution about what might unfold in the days to come.' Martin V. Melosi, author of The Sanitary City and Precious Commodity 'In recounting partisan battles, Mr. Allitt's objectivity is refreshing.' The Wall Street Journal, A provocative history of the environmental movement in America, showing how this rise to political and social prominence produced a culture of alarmism that has often distorted the facts Few issues today excite more passion or alarm than the specter of climate change. In A Climate of Crisis , historian Patrick Allitt shows that our present climate of crisis is far from exceptional. Indeed, the environmental debates of the last half century are defined by exaggeration and fearmongering from all sides, often at the expense of the facts. In a real sense, Allitt shows us, collective anxiety about widespread environmental danger began with the atomic bomb. As postwar suburbanization transformed the American landscape, more research and better tools for measurement began to reveal the consequences of economic success. A climate of anxiety became a climate of alarm, often at odds with reality. The sixties generation transformed environmentalism from a set of special interests into a mass movement. By the first Earth Day in 1970, journalists and politicians alike were urging major initiatives to remedy environmental harm. In fact, the work of the new Environmental Protection Agency and a series of clean air and water acts from a responsive Congress inaugurated a largely successful cleanup. Political polarization around environmental questions after 1980 had consequences that we still feel today. Since then, the general polarization of American politics has mirrored that of environmental politics, as pro-environmentalists and their critics attribute to one another the worst possible motives. Environmentalists see their critics as greedy special interest groups that show no conscience as they plunder the earth while skeptics see their adversaries as enemies of economic growth whose plans stifle initiative under an avalanche of bureaucratic regulation. There may be a germ of truth in both views, but more than a germ of falsehood too. America's worst environmental problems have proven to be manageable; the regulations and cleanups of the last sixty years have often worked, and science and technology have continued to improve industrial efficiency. Our present situation is serious, argues Allitt, but it is far from hopeless. Sweeping and provocative, A Climate of Crisis challenges our basic assumptions about the environment, no matter where we fall along the spectrum--reminding us that the answers to our most pressing questions are sometimes found in understanding the past., Few topics incite more passion and controversy than the idea of climate change. Historian Patrick Allitt argues that a mood of anxiety has long surrounded environmental issues, often eclipsing important realities. In A Climate of Crisis, he offers a provocative history of American environmentalism: from nuclear fears to antipollution protests. He argues that great progress has been made in health, living standards and life expectancy, despite exaggeration and fear-mongering from all sides that have obscured it.