Earth in the Balance: Forging a New Common Purpose

by Al Gore

Overview

With over half a million copies of Earth in the Balance sold, this timely re-issue benefits from a major new Foreword. It is a powerful and passionate analysis of the most crucial and far reaching issues confronting humanity. 'When I wrote this book, terms like global warming and greenhouse gases seemed exotic, unfamiliar, and unimportant to the lives of ordinary Americans. That has changed dramatically - except for those who still want to pretend that no one cares. There is a powerful awareness of the danger, and a widespread determination that we must not and will not leave our grandchildren a ravaged planet ringed with a thickening layer of carbon dioxide concentrations. So we have to strengthen, not weaken, environmental protection across the board, from global warming to stabilizing world population. This was my conclusion when this book was first published: We can believe in that future and work to achieve it and preserve it, or we can whirl blindly on, behaving as if one day there will be no children to inherit our legacy. The choice is ours; the Environment Decade is within our reach; the earth is in the balance.' AL GORE, December 1999 From the Foreword

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781853837432
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/01/2000
Edition description:	1
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Al Gore is an Academy Award winning filmmaker, the author of New York Times bestseller An Inconvenient Truth, a Nobel Peace Prize Nominee and former Vice President of the US.

Table of Contents

Ships in the Desert * The Shadow Our Future Throws * Climate and Civilization * Buddha's Breath * If the Well Goes Dry * Skin Deep * Seeds of Privation * The Wasteland * Self-Stewardship * Eco-Nomics * We Are What We Use * Dysfunctional Civilization * Environmentalism of The Spirit * A New Common Purpose * A Global Marshall Plan

Editorial Reviews

Vice President-elect Gore explains the necessity of enviromentalism and offers bold initiatives for change in this thoughtful, compelling primer, a QPB selection and PW bestseller. Illustrations. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

YA-- Too often, environmental challenges are presented in such a way that the more one learns, the more hopeless it all seems. Earth in the Balance does not shrink from the magnitude and painfulness of the conflicts YAs will soon inherit, but it also gives encouragement, offering the possibility of resolution. A passionate yet clearheaded exposition of a worldwide crisis is the starting point of this courageous book. Retracing his own journey, Gore leads readers toward a greater understanding of humanity and toward thinking beyond currently perceived limitations. With often stunning insight, he looks at how ``dysfunctional civilization,'' political realities, and religious traditions have helped to shape the current global ecological situation. This breadth of perspective should speak to a diversity of readers, while the final section, outlining a plausible plan of action, can capture the imaginations of practical as well as idealistic readers. The book may seem daunting to some, but its 3-part, 15-chapter structure, which allows readers to browse at will, should make it accessible enough to most YAs.-- Christine C. Menefee, Fairfax County Public Library, VA

School Library Journal

Senator (and vice presidential candidate) Gore (Democrat, Tennessee) demonstrates that the quality of air, water, and soil is at grave risk, not only locally or regionally but globally, and argues that only a radical rethinking of the human relationship with nature can save the earth's ecology for future generations. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

'The frankest and most important publication by a current politician I have read in a long time' William Rees-Mogg in The Independent 'The whole darn' thing... even more daring than Star Wars' The Independent on Sunday 'By far the best book of its kind by a serving politician that I have read' Jonathon Porritt in the Times Literary Supplement 'Dazzlingly meticulous... a model for the politically relevant, comprehensive discussion of environmental policy' New Scientist 'He argues forcefully, unanswerably, with intense humanity' The Observer 'An honest and thoughtful explanation of why preservation of the environment is central to the future of humanity' The Independent 'Close to the action, readable, passionate' Financial Times 'Well-argued ideas for saving the world' The Mail on Sunday 'The book is an indication that Mr Gore is a thinker as well as a doer' The Times 'An intelligent, articulate and highly readable study of the parlous state of mother earth' The Scotsman 'A work of intelligence and passionate authenticity' Time 'An astonishing book' The Irish Times 'a solid intellectual achievement, a work many scholars and environmental specialists might be proud to write.' New Scientist 'A passionate, intelligent and articulate discussion of the environmental crisis we face. First published in 1992 ... [it] resonates even more strongly today.' New Scientist 'This book is a brilliant analysis of the larger context of our situation, and is as relevant now as when it was first published.' Network Review, The Scientific and Medical Network

From the Publisher