Earth in Balance

Excellent analysis of the problems and perils we are facing in continuation of life on this planet. A must read for anyone who cares about future generations.

So many (especially) non-fiction books written by public figures amount to nothing more than candy-coated 'feel good' wastes of trees. Gore certainly wants his audience to buy this title, read it, and follow the advice contained in the book. However, he also had courage to write on a serious topic and then provided substantive data for his particular thesis. Much indeed has changed since 1992, but our 'me-first disposable' society still needs to take to heart the entire (however largely macro-level) advice presented in this book. Policy prescriptions advocated in this book really weren't that shocking either in 1992 or today. The availability of organic food offerings certainly has grown outside of specialty 'small' stores, however eating healthiest seems to remain a privilege for the truly wealthy since these same foods are more expensive than their chemically produced/preserved counterparts not to mention what foods are/are not subsidized for low-income families. Part of me would have liked to see a little more emphasis on what people can do at the grassroots level to help achieve balance. When the book was first published, I was unable to understand everything written inside the book. This time though, I not only finished, but was all revved up! It's a sad indictment of our society that we traditionally expect so little substantive contribution to social betterment from public figures, and paradoxically become 'alarmed' by those who do buck that trend to actually serve the public. This book is written for all Americans. Gore is a passionate and thoughtful man whose public service is clearly motivated by a love of humanity. He wrote this only because he cares about us and the issue.

Al Gore has compiled a comprehensive overview of our impact on the environment. You may not agree with everything he says, but it is clear that he has thought broadly and deeply about the subject. He makes a good overview of the science and where we are today, and provide a broad plan get us to sustainability.

Since this book was first published in 1993, the negative effects of our human resource use/abuse, population demands, pollution and global warming have increased substantially and one can only guess what our world would be like had Al Gore become President as the popular vote wished for. Would Gore's grasp of human caused climate change and his dedication to implementing corrective measures have helped reverse global warming? Would Gore's insight into socio-political-economic-environmental sustainability help guide humanity to a more rational relationship with our beautiful Earth home and it`s resources? Hopefully, Gore will run for President in 2008 and succeed- our nation and world desperately need wise leaders like him. After reading this book I was left with the feeling that it would be great if all politicians were required to demonstrate at least half of Gore's eco-literacy before taking office, what a fair, just and sustainable world this would be! In the meantime, Gore has actively been spreading the word about the deleterious effects of global warming and the need for sustainability and good stewardship in our relationship to Earth. His latest projects are the film documentary and book "An Inconvenient Truth" about global warming.

Senator Al Gore won high praise for this book from Bill Moyers because he "faces honestly the unremitting evidence of science"; from M. Scott Peck for "clearly pointing the way we need to change to assure the survival of our grandchildren"; and from Carl Sagan who tells us that "mitigating the crisis will require a planetary perspective, long-term thinking, political courage and savvy, eloquence and leadership - all of which are in evidence in Al Gore's landmark book." As a child the author watched eight acres an hour of top soil being carried away in the Mississippi River while his mother explained the implications of Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring'; as a student his professor explained the profound and disruptive change in the global climate due to the carbon dioxide build up in the atmosphere measured at Mauna Loa; as a serviceman in Vietnam he learned of the results of using Agent Orange; as a Congressman he investigated hazardous waste dumps such as Love Canal and learned of our leaders' powerful and determined opposition to the truth and their unwillingness to think about the comprehensive nature of the response needed. After reflecting on his own personal role in determining the course of his nation and civilization he ran for President focusing his campaign on global warming, ozone depletion, the ailing global environment and nuclear arms control only to discover that no one was interested in these issues and that the media would not provide coverage. It was a lesson in how political motives and government policies have helped to create the crisis and frustrate finding solutions; it was a lesson about leadership and evasion of responsibility, timidity of vision, avoiding important issues, and postponing difficult choices. He concluded that "Each of us must take a greater personal responsibility for this deteriorating global environment; each of us must take a hard look at the habits of mind and action that reflect - and have lead to - this grave crisis. The more deeply I search for the roots of the global environmental crisis, the more I am convinced that it is an outer manifestation of an inner crisis that is, for the lack of a better word, spiritual." Gore concluded that the search for truth about the crisis and the search for truth about himself are in fact the same search. Mahatma Ghandi said "We must be the change we wish to see in the world" but Gandhi could say that only after he was asked to tell a boy to stop eating sugar, stopped eating sugar himself for two weeks and only then spoke to the boy. Gore concluded that he had to deal with his own hypocrisy in such things as using CFCs in his automobile air conditioner before he could hope to convince others of the hypocrisy in their lives.Gore examines the crisis from the perspective of the earth sciences, economics, sociology, history, information theory, psychology, religion and from his vantagepoint as a politician. Although very difficult changes in established patterns of thoug