After Earth Day: Continuing the Conservation Effort

This collection of 16 often-stimulating essays on the polities, science and philosophy of conservation grew out of a 1991 conference held at the University of North Texas. Political scientist Robert Paehlke offers a savvy overview, explaining how environmentalists have shifted from seeking regulations to achieving sustainability and global change. Zoologist Neil Evernden describes how current metaphorical debates about ecology recycle ideas from turn-of-the-century conservationists Gifford Pinchot, who viewed nature as an object for manipulation, and John Muir, who respected nature as an independent entity. Essays by corporate contributors on recycling and the future of energy are thin, but economist Michael L. Nieswiadomy deftly describes economic approaches to resource conservation, including innovative solutions such as a deposit-refund system for toxic-waste disposal. Philosopher Michael Zimmerman provocatively warns that radical ecologists might foster a kind of ecofascism. Oelsehlaeger (The Idea of Wilderness) closes the book by suggesting that, in our current culture, religion is fundamental to solving ecological crises. (Sept.)