Egan, Michael (Author)
Washington State University
Hirt, Paul W.
Edition Details: Advisor: Hirt, Paul W.
Physical Details: 327 pp.
Language: English
Since World War II, biologist Barry Commoner has remained one of the most prominent and ardent defenders of the American environment. This study examines his social and scientific activism in order to shed light on his specific influences on and contributions to American environmentalism. Commoner's influences and contributions can be best examined by separating his struggles against particular environmental pollutants and his larger social vision. On the one hand, Commoner worked tirelessly to uncover environmental hazards inherent in postwar methods of production and to share that information with the public. He was a leading activist against nuclear fallout, air pollution, and the synthetic creations of the petrochemical industry---plastics, pesticides, detergents, PCBs, CFCs, and countless other toxins---and also a staunch critic of American free market capitalism, raising concerns about the inequitable distribution of environmental risks and benefits and the production and consumption of energy. On the other hand, he sought to demonstrate the intimate relationship between environmentalism and other social movements---for peace, civil rights, women, and labor---as part of a larger movement for social justice and empowerment. In so doing, he showed how environmental decline was the result of social decisions made beyond the purview of the American public, and became a leader for public participation in decision- making, particularly as it related to determining the risk factors presented by environmental pollutants.
...MoreDescription Cited in Diss. Abstr. Int. A 66/04 (2005): 1472. UMI pub. no. 3172345.
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