The Environmental Dilemma--Optimism or Despair?: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Trends, Issues, Perspectives and Options

by Lambert N. Wenner

Book Overview

For countless millenia humans extended their domain around the world, gradually using more of nature's resources. High death rates from famine, disease, and other perils restricted population growth.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0761807055
• ISBN13: 9780761807056
• Release Date: March 1997
• Publisher: University Press of America
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Broadly descriptive and carefully worded.

Wenner aims to provide a "sound, unbiased, interdiscipinary assessment of social and environmental trends" in order to build support for "reasonable efforts to protect our quality of life." The first half of the book describes the causes and consequences of rapid population growth and increased consumption of natural resources, while the second half considers various assessors of the state of the environment from despairing environmentalists to technological optimists. The major dilemma arises from the dual role technology as a source of population growth and environmental degradation. Broadly descriptive and carefully worded to deflect challenges, the book seems designed to encourage the uncommitted US reader to support corrective actions and to cooperate in international efforts. "Pertinent readings" are given in endnotes and a few books by "environmentalists", "progrowth advocates", and "intermediaries" are ! summarized in the text. Appendixes include some limited population data and a listing of international environmental initiatives since 1972. Wenner presents a balanced treatment. General readers; lower division undergraduates.

A quick, well-written summary of key issues.

Wenner paints with a broad brush concerning environmental trends, the impacts of these trends, and the search for solutions to environmental problems. This is no small accomplishment, given the interdisciplinary nature of the issues, the attention to detail required to state the issues correctly, and the necessity of providing appropriate examples. His overview encourages readers to take a historical, worldly perspective, and to be aware of how their particular interest in the environment fit into a much larger and more complex picture. For example, his brief treatment of colonialism includes the main period of colonialism, the nations that dominated the governments and economies of much of the world, and the common justifications colonial powers used to justify their dominance. Wenner also explains the various ways foreign powers exploited indigenous peoples, and he summarizes the current status of most countries formerly under colonial rule, as well as the lasting imp! act of colonialism on most countries. Few courses of study on the social change in developing countries cover teh issues so efficiently. I also appreciated Wenner's summation of pivotal books that popularized the environmental movement and recent books providing both optimistic and pessimistic views fo environmental problems and their solutions. Wenner is careful to present various arguments about environmental issues, and he avoids suggesting that participants in environmental conflicts can be simplified into "good guys" and "bad guys". The scenarios chosen to illustrate the issues and perspectives are realistic and neither alarmist or pollyanish. His coverage of international, state, and local actions effective in solving environmental problems is likely to be new information to rural and environmental sociologists who tend to focus on organizational decision making and the subsequent environmental repercussions. He concludes that, in many cases, the! re is sufficient agreement among scientists, country leader! s, and citizens to work cooperatively to limit population growth, distribute natural resources in a more equitable manner, and maintain current environmental quality. I recommend this book for introductory and background reading in undergraduate courses on rural issues, international development, and the environment. Readers seeking a non-technical summary of environmental trends, issues, perspective, and proposed solutions will find this book a useful and convenient resource for a quick, well-written summary of key issues.

Of interest to anyone who cares about the environment

By Dan Hayes, Salem, OR Statesman Journal. Like many persons who really care about the natural world, Dr. Lambert N. Wenner is spending his retirement in Oregon. But his interest in nature goes beyond mere environment. He received his Ph.D. at Syracuse U. in 1970 and since has amassed an impressive resume in a number of disciplines, all of them tied into environmental studies and the ways in which human activities affect the world. In an attempt to pass on what he has learned, he has written this book. It was published by the University Press of America and is being sold mostly as an academic textbook, but it wasn't written in textbook style. Although it plays a valuable role as a textbook, it is also a work that will - or should - be of interest to anyone who cares about the environment. Wenner says his primary reason for writing the book was "to present a broad interdisciplinary view of U.S. and world population growth, consumption trends and environmental impacts." In other words, he hoped to help people find an objective perspective for the information they have, to aid readers in truly understanding the history of the interaction of man and Earth and help them to develop practical solutions to the present environmental crisis. He does all that. His book is objective. As a nearly unique bonus, it also posits possible solutions to create the least social disruptions while genuinely dealing with solving environmental problems. Wenner's style heavily is weighted to the academic, but that doesn't obscure his powerful and cogent message. This book provides clear information. And it doesn't pull any punches. In the spirit of Pogo's "We have met the enemy, and he is us," Wenner states the care of the problem simply: "Our technological potential is impressive, but in the final analysis it is what we accomplish that counts, not what we boast of being able to do."