The Environmental Pendulum: A Quest for the Truth about Toxic Chemicals, Human Health, and Environmental Protection

This book is an excellent description of the environmental issues of toxic waste and the current status of dealing with it. Freeze has written a balanced and credible account based on his many years as a researcher and consultant. One quickly figures out that Freeze has "seen it all", and he offers not only examples from his vast experience but also his thoughtful suggestions for how to proceed in terms of priorities for cleanup as well as modifications to regulations. Freeze is a practical scientist and engineer who is serious about finding workable solutions, not pushing an ideology. I did find it a bit odd that Freeze, a Canadian, has written a very much US-centric book. Perhaps this was done to satisfy the publisher and the target audience. If you didn't know, you would think Freeze is an American, although he obviously has had a lot of professional experience in the US and knows US environmental regulations thoroughly. I also found the use of US customary units (feet, acres, miles, etc.) rather than metric units, as would be appropriate for a scientist and a Canadian, to detract somewhat from what otherwise would be a more scientifically and internationally appropriate exposition. I suppose this was another concession to the US audience. At any rate, this is just a little pet peeve of mine, that Americans can't seem to join the rest of the world and use the metric system. I really appreciated Freeze's comments about how more progress could be made via a cooperative, rather than adversarial, approach. This point came out with regard to the behavior of environmental groups, industry, and the courts. Regarding the latter, I found Chapter 7, The Environmental Game, to be sobering as Freeze explains the difference between a scientist's approach (tell the whole truth, give the full picture) versus an attorney's approach (tell only the part of the story that supports the client's case). No wonder scientists are leery of participating in legal suits. Freeze offers many useful suggestions and ends the book with Chapter 8, Solutions, in which he summarizes the many points he makes throughout the book to deal with issues he has encountered in his experience. This book is very readable, with all technical terms and concepts well defined. He nicely summarizes the main points at the end of each chapter by giving a bullet list. I am impressed with Freeze's balanced, practical, objective presentation. I would recommend this book not only as a thorough discussion of toxic waste but also as a good model for approaching any environmental issue.