Earth In Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit

By Al Gore. Penguin Books USA, Inc., New York, NY, 1992. Paperback edition $13.

As an analysis of where we stand and what we can do about our global environmental problems,

Earth in the Balance is an excellent resource. That it was written by the leading Senate environmentalist who is now Vice President of the United States makes it a landmark publication. So right-on seem most of Gore’s perspectives that I had to continually remind myself that the author is not just an armchair analyst, commenting on policy from the sidelines, but rather someone who may be in a position to really make it happen.

Part I of

Earth in the Balance is a concise and very readable summary of our most pressing global environmental concerns: global warming, ozone depletion, air pollution, deforestation, threats to fresh water systems, loss of genetic diversity, and mounting solid and toxic waste. This section includes a fascinating analysis of how climate change has shaped human history dramatically on many occasions. It is full of facts: That the ex-Soviet republic of the Ukraine puts “eight times as many particulates into the air each year as does the entire United States.” That in the Queensland district of northeastern Australia “more than 75 percent of all its citizens who have reached the age of 65 now have some form of skin cancer.” That the world’s forests store more fresh water than its lakes.

Part II looks at some of the deep-rooted causes of our problems, including our economic system, inadequate information flow, dysfunctional family and cultural structures, and even religious institutions. Some of this second part of the book is a bit heavy—especially some of Gore’s extended metaphors. A number of readers have told me that they got bogged down here and never made it to the third part of the book, which is too bad.

Part III is a global call to action. “We must make the rescue of the environment the central organizing principle for civilization,” says Gore in the book. To do this, he proposes a sort of global Marshall Plan that would have five primary goals: 1) stabilize world population, 2) develop environmentally appropriate technologies, 3) reform the economic standards used in decision-making, 4) negotiate a series of global treaties to protect the environment, and 5) foster more effective global education about the environment.

Under the second goal of developing appropriate technologies, Gore proposes a “Strategic Environment Initiative,” modeled to some extent after the Strategic Defense Initiative. Specific suggestions that could affect building technology include modifications to building codes requiring the use of environmentally friendly technologies, improving the efficiency of appliances and lighting, elimination of subsidies that encourage resource depletion (including timber harvesting), and government involvement in green labeling.

Under the goal of reforming economic forces, Gore proposes that the U.S. take such steps as creating an Environmental Security Trust Fund “with payments into the fund based on the amount of CO

₂ put into the atmosphere;” imposing a

Virgin Materials Fee on “products at the point of manufacture or importation based on the quantity of nonrenewable, virgin materials built into the product;” and strengthening efficiency standards throughout the economy (buildings, motors, appliances, etc.).

Earth in the Balance is a remarkable book, one that should be read and studied not just by policy makers, but by all of us, from factory workers to business owners, from students to retired citizens. Then we all need to pitch in to help bring about the changes Gore calls for—or at least help bring about the change in mindset that will be required to come to grips with our global environmental challenges.

—A.W.