BETWEEN THE LINES

Book Talk by Joe Neri

It's the Ecology, Stupid!

Last month, the World Wildlife Fund and the Global Footprint Network released a report on global ecological trends, trends that indicate that humans are stripping nature at an unprecedented rate. Humanity's “footprint” on planet Earth has more than tripled between 1961 and 2003, and consumption has outpaced popu-lation growth by fifty percent.

An inconvenient truth, as Al Gore would say.

Coincidently and also last month, a very significant and important book was pub-lished, unfortunately below the radar of many reviewers and all of the major bookstore chains. That book is THE END OF THE WILD by Stephen M. Meyer.

Meyer is a professor of political science at MIT and the director of the MIT Project on Environmental Politics and Policy. THE END OF THE WILD, originally an article in the Boston Review, is now a small, high-quality book published by the MIT Press.

Meyer's premise, based on research and evidence that he explains and documents in detail, is that through the process of human selection (humans decide which species are worthy of protection and which should be allowed to become extinct), we have destroyed and/or significantly damaged most of the major eco-systems on the planet, ecosystems that are necessary for the survival of many life forms, including human beings. He writes, “…the extinction crisis…is over, and we have lost.”

Meyer believes that nothing can change the course that has been set by a couple hundred years of mismanaging and abusing our natural resources. The stark re-ality is that we can no longer talk about conserving nature, only managing what is left. In that respect, THE END OF THE WILD is a wake-up call.

This is a book that deserves a place on our shelves, right next to the books of Edward Abbey, Craig Childs, Ellen Meloy, Marc Reiser and other well-respected environmental writers.

More importantly THE END OF THE WILD is a book that deserves to be read by as many people as possible, especially those in positions of power and influence over the environment.

With that in mind, I'll repeat the offer that was recently published in our book-store's weekly newsletter: We will give a free copy of THE END OF THE WILD to any current member of the Sedona City Council and the Sedona Planning & Zoning Commission. Just come on in and ask for one.