The ancient Biblical story of Noah and the Ark tells how humans and God worked together to save the biota of the Earth from an ecological catastrophe. To survive the Flood and repopulate the Earth with humans and animals, Noah brought all the animals on board the Ark with his family – two by two. This provides the template for our SavingtheEarth.net Short List – two choices from each section!
If you are looking for a place to start with your reading on the environment, we suggest you begin with one of our favorite recommendations listed below.
This awe-inspiring collection of photograhs gives those of us stuck on Earth a glimpse of what our home planet looks like from the window of a spacecraft. All the continents are shown, as well as weather events, the aurora borealis, and the visible effects of anthropogenic environmental change - deforestation and desertification chief among them. Take a sobering look at our lovely planet and realize how small and fragile it really is. 2003, National Geographic
BBC natural history producer Alastair Fothergill spent the last ten years producing two of the most stunningly beautiful series ever created. Seas of Life is the definitive exploration of the marine world, chronicling the mysteries of the deep, coastline populations, sea mammals, tidal and climatic influences, and the complete biological system that revolves around the world's oceans. Planet Earth uses high definition photography and revolutionary ultra-high speed cameras to produce the ultimate portrait of our planet - capturing rare action, impossible locations and intimate moments with our planet's best loved, wildest and most elusive creatures. Sixteen hours of viewing time, including many extra features. 2007, BBC Warner
Stunning photographs and informative text elevate this book beyond a coffee-table existence. It includes nformation on the classification of animals, their habitats and behavior with charts, maps, photographs and illustrations. Subsequent chapters focus on specific species, divided into broad groups: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes and invertebrates. Endangered species information is at the end of each chapter. Since biodiversity is now at the forefront of biologists' concerns, the volume reports on the issues critical to ecology, from habitat loss to the species that are most endangered within each class. Amazon.com Editor's Choice - Best of 2001 2005, DK ADULT
In this lyrical and heartfelt account of the North Atlantic Blue Tuna and Pacific Salmon, Safina describes how populations have fallen by more than 90% in just the last few decades - the result of changing global temperatures, overfishing, pollution, and inland watershed destruction. Safina argues that we must extend our sense of biological community to ocean animals before it is too late. 1999, Owl Books
In these volcanic islands off the west coast of Ecuador we see a living laboratory of life, both geological and biological. The westernmost islands are still rising above the sea, while the eastern islands are sinking, ultimately to disappear below the surface. Between the two are the middle islands - fertile, lush lands that contain an incredible diversity of life and inspired Darwin to first formulate his theory of evolution. This beautifully filmed journey highlights the exotic wildlife in the midst of gorgeous scenery. 2007, BBC Warner
The definitive series on the most colorful, popular and perfectly adapted creatures on earth, The Life of Birds traverses the globe, covering 42 countries and examining over 300 different species. Pushing filming technology to the limits, new behavior is brought to the screen in staggering detail. Infrared cameras find oilbirds deep in pitch-black caves; ultra-slowmotion film unravels the complexities of bird flight; and ultraviolet cameras reveal the world from a bird's point of view. Ten hours viewing time. 2002, BBC Warner
From 1804 to 1806, Meriwether Lewis, accompanied by co-captain William Clark, the Shoshone guide Sacajawea, and thirty-two men, made the first trek across the Louisiana Purchase, mapping the rivers as they went, tracing the principal waterways to the sea. Together the captains kept a journal, a richly detailed record of the flora and fauna they sighted, the Indian tribes they encountered, and the awe-inspiring landscape they traversed, from their base camp near St. Louis to the mouth of the Columbia River. These journals are an incomparable contribution to the literature of exploration and the writing of natural history. 1997, Mariner Books
Reading the Roots is an unprecedented anthology of outstanding early writings about American nature. Rather than begin with Henry David Thoreau, who is often identified as the progenitor of American nature writing, editor Michael P. Branch instead surveys the long tradition that prefigures and anticipates Thoreau and his literary descendants. The selections in the book describe a diversity of landscapes, wildlife, and natural phenomena. The volume also includes a critical introduction discussing the cultural, scientific, and literary value of early American nature writing; headnotes that contextualize all authors and selections; and a substantial bibliography of primary and secondary sources in the field. 2004, University of Georgia Press
Subtly interweaving natural observation, personal experience, and historical lore, these primary works by Thoreau reveal his brilliance not only as a writer, but as a naturalist, scholar, historian, poet, and philosopher. A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers is based on a boat trip taken with his brother. Walden, one of America's great books, is at once a personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, manual of self-reliance, and masterpiece of style. The Maine Woods and Cape Cod portray landscapes changing irreversibly even as he wrote. Thoreau’s essential works in one volume. 1985, Library of America
Many reader’s exposure to Thoreau's published works like Walden and The Maine Woods are intrigued enough to look deeper. Inevitably, you end up with the Journals. Thoreau's journal of 1851 reveals profound ideas and observations in the making, including wonderful writing on the natural history of Concord. This journal allows the reader to follow Thoreau through the cycle of the seasons he observed so closely. 1993, Penguin
This volume is virtually an entire library of Muir. It combines The Story of My Boyhood and Youth, My First Summer in the Sierra, The Mountains of California, Stickeen, and a number of his essays along with illustrations, a chronology of his life, and scholarly notes. 1997, Library of America
Sir Joshua Slocum’s spellbinding account of his 46,000 mile, three-year-long solo journey around the world—the first ever made—has inspired generations of readers. "I had resolved on a voyage around the world, and as the wind on the morning of April 24, 1895 was fair, at noon I weighed anchor, set sail, and filled away from Boston…” Sailing Alone, a compelling statement of self-reliance, is the “nautical equivalent” to Thoreau’s Walden. Slocum said afterwards that he had been “in touch with nature as few have ever been”, and described his entrance to the stormy Strait of Magellan: “…the scene was again real and gloomy; the wind, northeast, and blowing a gale, sent feather-white spume along the coast; such a sea ran as would swamp an ill-appointed ship…I observed that two great tide-races made ahead, one very close to the point of land and one farther offshore. Between the two…went the Spray with close-reefed sails.” This is a gripping adventure story suffused with the salty tang of sea air and a palpable sense of the powers of Nature. 2005, Shambhala
This memoir by Edward Abbey recounts his years as a park ranger working at Arches National Park in Utah. Abbey's keen eye and sharp writing clearly impart the beauty of the desert and the importance of preserving our limited natural resources. His reflections and rants on American environmentalism, the auto and mining industries, and the impact they have on our national park system ring just as true today as when the book was first published in 1968. 1990, Touchstone
A Sand County Almanac is a classic and beloved book, remaining in print over 60 years for the strength of its ideas, its compelling stories, and the quality of its prose. Leopold honored the land, believing it to be a community of living things, to be loved and respected, the deepest source of all our cultural harvests. These beliefs lead ultimately to his Land Ethic, presented in the last sections of the book. Sand County Almanac begins by taking the reader through the seasons on Leopold’s farmed-out farmstead in central Wisconsin, providing a rich and detailed picture of the rhythm of life on the land. Everything matters: the simple act of cutting a dead tree for firewood becomes a lesson in the interweaving of natural history and social history. Each bite of the blade into an earlier ring of the tree gives us a story, both human and natural. As the "fragrant little chips of history" fall, we see the complex and ongoing interrelationship between the tree, other trees, and the humans living around them.
John Burroughs Medal for Distinguished Nature Writing 1977 1989, Oxford University Press
National Book Award winner Peter Matthiessen, a self-professed "craniac," has been studying birds most of his life, but his pursuit of cranes is closer to a spiritual quest than a naturalist's exercise. These majestic, mythic and notoriously shy birds, capable of soaring at heights of 20,000 feet, are often fond of remote and rugged places. Matthiessen's search for cranes has taken him to hidden corners of Siberia, China, Mongolia, Tibet, Sudan, and Australia. Matthiessen observes that the cranes serve as an ecological warning: "Perhaps more than any other living creatures, they evoke the retreating wilderness, the vanishing horizons of clean water, earth, and air upon which their species - and ours too - must ultimately depend for survival." 2003, North Point Press
The Island Within is a beautifully written tribute to the Pacific Northwest. Drawn from the author's journals, it is an account of the natural and cultural history of an island in the waters of the Haida Strait, focusing on geology, marine life, wildlife, habitats and Koyukon heritage. On frequent visits to the island, anthropologist Nelson describes his self-sufficient existence there, practicing a respect for the wilderness learned from the Alaskan native peoples. The Island Within is filled with epiphanies both small and large as Nelson opens all his senses to become immersed in the natural world of the island. John Burroughs Medal for Distinguished Nature Writing 1991 1991, Vintage
In his introduction to this superb anthology, editor McKibben proposes that "environmental writing is America's most distinctive contribution to the world's literature." The collected pieces amply prove the point. Arranged chronologically, McKibben's selection of more than 100 writers includes great early conservationists, the early exponents of national parks and wilderness areas, writers who have borne witness to environmental degradation, visionaries, contemporary activist/writers, and many other eloquent nature writers. McKibben's trenchant introductions to the pieces sum up each writer's thoughts and form a running commentary on the progress of the conservation movement. The book can be read as a survey of the literature of American environmentalism, but above all, it should be enjoyed for the sheer beauty of the writing. 2008, Library of America
Since its inception in 1982, Orion magazine has been a forum for looking beyond the effects of ecological crises to their root causes in human culture. Less an anthology than a vision statement, this timely collection challenges the division of human society from the natural world that has often characterized traditional environmentalism. Edited and introduced by Barry Lopez, The Future of Nature encompasses such topics as local economies, the social dynamics of activism, America’s incarceration society, naturalism in higher education, developing nations, spiritual ecology, the military-industrial landscape, and the challenges of wilderness designation. 2007, Milkweed Editions
This fine, well-annotated anthology offers selections from familiar writers such as Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, Annie Dillard, and Barry Lopez. It contains surprises as well, including George Orwell's little-known essay, "Some Thoughts on the Common Toad" and Herman Melville's musings on how the great white whale came to be so white in the first place, the fruit of the deep natural-historical research that underlies Moby-Dick. At more than 900 pages, The Norton Book of Nature Writing is too hefty to pack into the wild, but every page is an inspiration to take into the world outdoors. 2002, W. W. Norton
The best writing about nature, literary scholar Buell suggests, has at its root an argument that humans are accountable to the environment. In the American literary canon, the work that best demonstrates this thesis is Thoreau's classic Walden, a memoir celebrating at once the virtues of voluntary simplicity and the quest for political liberty. It is from Walden that much contemporary writing about nature derives. In this study, Buell charts the growth of Thoreau's own environmental ethic and his lasting influence on writers of many kinds. 1996, Belknap Press
Roderick Nash's classic study of America's changing attitudes toward wilderness has received wide acclaim since its initial publication in 1967. The Los Angeles Times has listed it among the 100 most influential books published in the last 25 years; Outside Magazine has included it in a survey of "books that changed our world;" and it has been called the "Book of Genesis for environmentalists." Now a fourth edition of this highly regarded work is available, with a new preface and epilogue in which Nash explores the future of wilderness and reflects on its ethical and biocentric relevance. 2001, Yale University Press
National Book Award-winner Lopez and co-editor Gwartney assemble 45 writers, known for their intimate connection to particular places, and challenge them to draw on the polyglot richness of American English to collectively create a unique dictionary. This marvelous book, treating such words as arroyo, muskeg, kiss tank, vly, graded shoreline, and revetment, enlivens readers to the rich diversity of language that captures our complex relationship to the land. 2006, Trinity University Press
Originally published by the Sierra Club in 1995, this handbook has helped thousands of aspiring writers, scholars and students share their experiences with nature and the outdoors. Using exercises and examples, Murray covers genres, techniques, and publication issues. Many examples from the masters of nature writing are included. Recommended readings, a directory of creative writing programs and a directory of environmental organizations make this a comprehensive and useful book for writers. 2003, University of New Mexico Press
In this book a master scientist tells the story of how life on earth evolved. Pulitzer Prize winner Wilson eloquently describes how the species of the world became diverse and why that diversity is threatened today as never before. "The most important scientific book of the year." The Boston Globe 1999, W. W. Norton
This comprehensive book analyzes patterns of biological diversity in the U.S. The country's 200,000 species are not faring well. Roughly one-third are at risk: 500 are already extinct or missing. Precious Heritage identifies the first ever "hot spots" where conservation efforts would be especially important and challlenges us to consider the scale of habitat conservation that will be needed to protect entire ecological systems. 2000, Oxford University Press
How can the international conservation movement protect biological diversity, while at the same time safeguarding the rights and fulfilling the needs of people, particularly the poor? Contested Nature argues that to be successful in the long term, social justice and biological conservation must go hand in hand. The protection of nature is a complex social enterprise, and much more a process of politics, and of human organization, than ecology. Using case studies, the book shows that pursuing social justice enhances biodiversity conservation rather than diminishing it, and that the fate of local peoples and that of conservation are completely intertwined. 2003, State University of New York Press
Demand by rapidly growing populations for scarce resources is the most likely cause of wars in the 21st century, Klare says. He describes rapidly increasing demand for resources as the world industrializes; the concentration of resources in unstable states; and the competing claims to ownership of these resources by neighboring states. He sees the potential for conflict over oil in the Persian Gulf and in the Caspian and South China Seas; over water in the Nile Basin and other multinational river systems; and over timber, gems and minerals from Borneo to Sierra Leone. Finite resources, escalating demand and the location of resources in regions torn by ethnic and political unrest all combine as preconditions of war. Klare presents a persuasive case for paying serious attention to these impending hostilities and furnishes the basic information needed to understand their danger and the importance of international cooperation in staving off conflict. 2002, Holt
Activist Dave Foreman details human impacts on species survival, including direct killing, habitat loss and fragmentation, introduction of exotic species, and climate change. He shows how wildlands networks instead of isolated protected areas are the logical next step for the conservation movement. An inspiring and empowering call to action for scientists, activists and laypeople. 2004, Island Press
Marine conservation biologist Roberts presents a devastating account of the effects of fishing on the sea. Once-abundant acquatic life has declined to the point where we probably have less than 5% of the total mass of fish that once swam in Europe's seas. Industrial fishing has virtually eliminated entire species. He argues persuasively for the establishment of marine reserves - protected areas where fish stocks have a chance to recover. This book is a vivid reminder of what we've lost and a plea to save what is left. 2007, Island Press
This book spans the period from the pivotal migrations which saw the peopling of the world to the present, and examines the processes by which tribal peoples established themselves as separate from surplus-based and more material societies. It considers the impact of the policies of domination and colonization which brought dramatic change to indigenous cultures. 2004, Palgrave Macmillan
This book documents the momentous collision of worldviews that pits the forces of economic globalization against the Earth's surviving indigenous peoples. Since many of the planet's dwindling resources are located on lands inhabited by native communities, they are now the direct target of giant global corporations who desperately need them to fuel their own unsustainable growth. In first-hand reports Paradigm Wars details the devastating impacts of extractive industries and bioprospecting, the degrading of cultural artifacts and languages, and even the damage done by some well-meaning conservation groups. The book highlights how indigenous communities are strongly resisting this onslaught, often with amazing success. 2006, Sierra Club Books
Former Vice President Al Gore focuses on the threats that everyday choices pose to our climate, water, soil, and diversity of plant and animal life. A passionate, lifelong defender of the environment, Gore describes how human actions and decisions can endanger or safeguard the vulnerable ecosystem that sustains us. 2006, Rodale Books
Teasing out the consequences of a simple thought experiment - what would happen if the human species were suddenly extinguished? - Weisman has written a sort of pop-science ghost story, in which the whole earth is the haunted house. New York City subways would fill with water, forests would retake the buckled streets, and land freed from mankind's environmentally poisonous footprint would quickly reconstitute itself. After thousands of years, the earth might revert to Eden. Thought-provoking. 2007, Thomas Dunne Books
Natural Capitalism shows how leading-edge companies are practicing "a new type of industrialism" that is more efficient and profitable while saving the environment and creating jobs. The authors write that in the next century, cars will get 200 miles per gallon without compromising safety and power, manufacturers will relentlessly recycle their products, and the world's standard of living will jump without further damaging natural resources. They call their approach natural capitalism because it's based on the principle that business can be good for the environment - and the tools are at hand to make it work. A fascinating and provocative read. 2000, Back Bay Books
Edwards examines sustainability issues in five major sectors of society: community, commerce, natural resources, ecological design and the biosphere. Sustainability Revolution emphasizes the importance of an attitude of stewardship of the Earth's resources; the need for economic restructuring promoting no waste and equitable distribution of resources; an understanding and respect for the principles of nature; the restoration of life forms; and an intergeneratinal perspective on solutions. The book describes innovative sustainable projects and policies in Colombia, Brazil, India and the Netherlands. 2005, New Society Publishers
This pathfinding collection shows how the health of the planet is inextricably linked to the psychological health of humanity, individually and collectively. Ecopsychology is both a new beginning for environmentalism and a revolution in modern psychology. 1995, Sierra Club Books
Psychologist, eco-therapist, and wilderness guide Plotkin presents a new model of the whole of human life and spirituality for a world in dire ecological need, spoiled by patho-adolescent society. Nature and the Human Soul calls us to a fresh conception of individual and collective evolutionary life genuinely reconnected to the wild of nature. Using the indigenous template of the four compass directions, Plotkin describes eight stages on the wheel of spiritual development - the Innocent, Explorer, Thespian, Wanderer, Soul Apprentice, Artisan, Master and Sage. The Wheel is a deep-structure portrait of nature-and-soul-oriented cultures, a portrait that encompasses child-raising practices, core values, stages of growth, rites of passage, community organization, and relationship to the greater Earth community. Graceful prose is counterbalanced with diagrams and clear chapter structure. Plotkin offers an essential, weighty book for our perilous times. 2007, New World Library
Environmentalist Paul Hawken believes that we are in the midst of a world-changing rise of activist groups, all "working toward ecological sustainability and social justice." Neither ideological nor centralized, this coalescence of activism is a spontaneous and organic response to the recognition that environmental problems are social-justice problems. Hawken compares this gathering of forces to the human immune system as people are joining together to defend life on Earth. Hopeful and inspiring. 2007, Viking
The authors argue that the politics that dealt with acid rain and smog can't deal with global warming. In short, "environmentalism" must die so that something new can be born. Break Through articulates a new politics for a new century, one focused on aspirations, not complaints; human possibility, not limits. What the new ecological crises demand is that we unleash a new kind of economic development. We cannot tear down the old energy economy before building the new one. The invention of the internet and microchips, the creation of the space program, the birth of the European Union - those break throughs were only made possible by big and bold investments in the future. The era of small thinking is over, the authors claim. We must go beyond small-bore environmentalism and interest-group liberalism to create a politics focused as much on uncommon greatness as the common good. 2007, Houghton Mifflin
Nobel prize-winner Stiglitz, an experienced economist, explains what globalization means in practice and offers a reasoned critique of the main institutions that govern globalization: the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization. He strongly believes that globalization can be a positive force around the world, particularly for the poor, but only if the IMF, World Bank, and WTO dramatically alter the way they operate, beginning with increased transparency and a greater willingness to examine their own actions closely. This smart, provocative study contributes significantly to the ongoing debate and provides a model of analytical rigor concerning the process of assisting countries facing the challenges of economic development and transformation. 2003, W. W. Norton
What Friedman means by "flat" is "connected": the lowering of trade and political barriers and the exponential technical advances of the digital revolution that have made it possible to do business, or almost anything else, instantaneously with billions of other people across the planet. Globalization 3.0, as he calls it, is driven not by major corporations or giant trade organizations like the World Bank, but by individuals: desktop freelancers and innovative startups all over the world (but especially in India and China) who can compete - and win - not just for low-wage manufacturing and information labor but, increasingly, for the highest-end research and design work as well. Friedman also highlights the importance of what he calls "uploading" -the direct-from-the-bottom creation of culture, knowledge, and innovation through blogging, podcasts, and open-source software. 2007, Picador
Kolbert's calmly persuasive reporting stands out for its sobering clarity. She lets facts rather than polemics tell the story. In essence it's that earth is now nearly as warm as it has been at any time in the last 420,000 years and is on the precipice of an unprecedented "climate regime, one with which modern humans have had no prior experience." 2006, Bloomsbury USA
Former Vice President Al Gore calls our climate crisis a true planetary emergency and says that it represents both danger and opportunity. He calls for raising fuel ecomony in vehicles, launching a serious renewable energy program, and calls upon Americans to take the lead in taking action to address the issues of global warming. 2006, Rodale Books
In Cradle to Cradle the authors present a manifesto calling for a new industrial revolution, one that would render both traditional manufacturing and traditional environmentalism obsolete. Recycling, for instance, is actually "downcycling," creating byproducts which are then unrecoverable and unuseable. The authors want to eliminate the concept of waste alltogether, while preserving commerce and allowing for human nature. This is a handbook for 21st century innovation. 2002, North Point Press
The green building movement, with its principles of human-centered, environmentally sensitive development is showing us how we can have healthier indoor environments that use far less energy and water than conventional buildings do. This book shows readers how to start thinking about designing, building, and operating high performance, environmentally aware (LEED-certified) buildings on conventional budgets. 2007, Island Press
Reorienting the way human beings live on the Earth and educating children to their highest capacities have much in common, say the thinkers and educators behind this ground-breaking book. Both endeavors must be viewed and pursued in the context of systems: familial, geographic, ecological, and political. Our efforts to build sustainabile communities cannot succeed unless future generations learn how to partner with natural systems to their mutual benefit. 2005, Sierra Club Books
Today's kids are increasingly disconnected from the natural world. A 2002 British study reported that 8-year-olds can identify Pokemon characters far more easily than they could name "otter, beetle and oak tree." The author of this stimulating book argues for a return to an awareness of and appreciation for the natural world. Not only can nature teach kids science and nurture their creativity, he says, nature needs its children: where else will its future stewards come from? 2006, Algonquin Books
Addressing a hypothetical "Dear Pastor," Pulitzer Prize-winning biologist issues a forthright call for unity between religion and science in order to save the creation - living nature which is in deep trouble. Forget about arguing over life's origins, Wilson suggests, and focus on the fact that while nature achieves sustainability through complexity, human activities are driving myriad species into extinction, thus depleting the biosphere and jeopardizing civilization. Wilson celebrates individual species, each a masterpiece of biology, and acutely analyzes the nexus between nature and the human psyche. He refutes fantasies about humanity's ability to recreate nature's intricate web, and deplores the use of religious belief (God will take care of it) as an impediment to conservation. 2007, W. W. Norton
Berry explores human - Earth relations and seeks a new, non-anthropocentric approach to the natural world. He says that our immediate danger is not nuclear war but industrial plundering. He urges movement and education toward a "biocracy" that will heal the earth. "This volume quite possibly is one of the ten most important books of the 20th century." Dr. Donald B. Conroy 2006, Sierra Club Books
Coevolution is the key to survival of all species, maintains Flannery as he uses the isolated lands of Australia and Caledonia as a "lab" to demonstrate what he means. When the landmass of Australia separated itself some 36 million years ago, it began to develop its unique flora and fauna. When the indigenous peoples colonized Australia 50,000 years ago they quickly hunted most large animals to extinction, consuming without replacing resources they would need in the future; later-arriving Europeans destroyed even more. With this domination approach, each new territory that was colonized presented opportunities for wealth, population growth, leisure; but the cost is invariably great - populations soar, then drop as food sources become extinct or soil is exhausted. 2002, Grove Press
In the last century, the authors write, the industrialized and developing nations of the world have wrought damage to nearly every part of the globe. Soil degradation now affects one-third of Earth's land surface, though intensive fertilizer use and genetic engineering of crops have masked the ill effects. From Mexico City to Calcutta, from China to Africa, megacities choke on air pollution as economic development takes priority over other concerns. Acid rain has decimated lake and river life, crops and forests across Europe and North America. Something New documents the pollution of oceans and seas; worldwide deforestation; the unchecked "harvesting" of fish and whales; disruptive invasions by new species; and the massive impact on ecosystems resulting from urbanization, population growth, wars, oil spills,and nuclear power accidents. 2001, W. W. Norton
The author dramatically details how human demands are outstripping the earth's capacities - and what we need to do about it. Future security, Brown says, depends on raising water productivity, stabilizing climate by moving beyond fossil fuels, and slowing population growth. 2005, W. W. Norton
Every day there is a net gain of more than 200,000 people on the planet. McKee explores the relationship between population growth and biodiversity, demonstrating that nature is too sparing to accommodate both a richly diverse living world and a rapidly expanding number of people. He shows that humans and their ancestors have had negative impacts on species biodiversity for nearly two million years, and that extinction rates have accelerated since the origins of agriculture. Today entire ecosystems are in peril due to the relentless growth of the human population. McKee concludes that the most effective measure to save Earth's biodiversity is to slow the growth of human populations. 2005, Rutgers University Press
The Apollo Alliance, an advocacy group and think tank uniting unions, environmental groups and business organizations, is committed to fostering a green economy. To free the U.S. of fossil fuel dependency, they propose that we must redesign the automobile, invest in solar power, increase development of wind power, explore the technology for harnessing wave energy, use all energy more efficiently, and embrace clean coal consumption and safe nuclear power. 2007, Island Press
Since the dawn of the industrial age, the explosive growth in economic productivity has been fueled by oil, coal, and natural gas. World energy use nearly doubled between 1975 and 2005. China's energy use has been doubling every decade. The implications for the environment are staggering. This comprehensive and authoritative overview looks at the full range of issues - generating technologies, green building design, land use planning, energy and economic policies, the impact of transportation patterns on energy use, and more - that must be considered in making the necessary transition to sustainable energy sources. 2008, Island Press
This comprehensive assessment from Worldwatch Institute focuses on the opportunities and risks of the large-scale production of biofuels. It demystifies complex questions and concerns, such as the food vs. fuel debate. Global in scope, it is further informed by five country studies, from Brazil, China, Germany, India and Tanzania. The authors conclude that biofuels will play a significant role in our energy future, but warn that the large-scale use of biofuels carries risks that require focused and immediate policy initiatives. 2007, Earthscan Publications
Hydrogen has been viewed as the holy grail of clean energy; in this fascinating book, Romm, a Dept. of Energy advisor, makes a compelling case for believing that widespread use of hydrogen is still four to five decades away. The challenge facing entrepreneurs is whether to make fuel-cell vehicles marketable before the hydrogen infrastructure is in place; Romm warns that overenthusiasm for a still embryonic technology could delay its full flowering even further. Vital, readable guidance for investors, environmentalists and those looking towards a clean energy future. 2005, Island Press
The End of Oil is a "geologic cautionary tale for a complacent world accustomed to reliable infusions of cheap energy." The global supply of oil is being depleted at an alarming rate. While half the world's population lives without the benefits of fossil fuels, the other half guzzles oil as if there is an unlimited supply. The transition from this system of energy production to the next - whatever that is - likely will cause untold disruption worldwide: Roberts calls this "arguably the most serious crisis ever to face industrial society." He is hopeful that the race to develop reliable alternative energy sources will avert a full-blown energy crisis. 2005, Mariner Books
Deffeyes delivers a sobering message: the 100-year petroleum era is nearly over. Global oil production will peak sometime between 2004 and 2008, and the world's production of crude oil "will fall, never to rise again." And there is no quick fix, no new discovery of another oil field or new extraction technology that can prevent this ultimate reality. The only answer, Deffeyes says, is to move as quickly as possible to alternative fuels, including natural gas and nuclear power, as well as solar, wind and geothermal energy. 2003, Princeton University Press
Energy entrepreneur Jim Gordon had a bold idea: plant 130 wind turbines in Nantucket Sound to take advantage of the steady winds. The project stirred up world-class NIMBY responses from the money residents of this offshore enclave. Senator Ted Kennedy, environmentalist Robert Kennedy Jr., Listerine heiress Bunny Mellon and coal, oil and gas magnate William Koch were stubbornly opposed to the project that could affect the views from their estates. This true-life tale of political struggle between those proposing alternative energy projects and landowners and politicians is a harbinger of future conflicts as we reluctantly consider alternatives to oil. 2007, PublicAffairs
In this aptly titled book, Scheer attacks the lack of political will to find answers outside of the conventional frame of reference. Climate change, pollution, deforestation, destruction of the ozone layer, poverty, and the population explosion are all problems created or exacerbated by the use of conventional energy. Scheer shows that this crisis may yet be reversed but that this can only happen through a fundamental change in political and economic strategies, paving the way gowards a global solar energy economy sustained by new social principles. 2005, Earthscan Publications
The authors show how agricultural landscapes can be designed more creatively to take the needs of human populations into account while also protecting and enhancing biodiversity. It features a wealth of real-world case studies that demonstrate the applicability of the ideas discussed. 2002, Island Press
Poet/farmer Wendell Berry sees the environmental crisis as a crisis of character, agriculture, and culture. Because Americans are divorced from the land, they mistreat it; because they are divorced from each other, they mistreat those around them. Berry argues for the creation of more meaningful work, the protection of the environment, and the necessity of meaningful community. 1996, Sierra Club Books
In this stunning work of history and investigative journalism, Reisner tells the story of conflicts over water policy in the West and the resulting damage to the land, wildlife and Indians. He describes massive irrigation projects, funded by the U.S. government, that have caused many arid
areas to bloom: the cities of Las Vegas, Phoenix and Los Angeles and vast areas of farmland are wholly dependent upon water brought at great cost from long distances. He calls attention to the long-term despoilation of agricultural soil through concentration of salts - the inevitable result of irrigation. A pioneering book that is still immensely valuable. 1993, Penguin
Science journalist Pearce sounds the alarm: a worldwide water shortage is the most fearful looming environmental crisis. The rivers of the world are running dry. As aquifers are tapped to extinction, rivers dammed to depletion, and wetlands converted to deserts, societies continue to employ the profligate water management techniques that created the current dire situation. When the Rivers Run Dry cogently describes the frightening ways in which this ecological emergency is affecting population centers, human health, food production, wildlife habitats, and species viability. Required reading. 2006, Beacon Press
