“Perhaps one of the most meaningful ways to sense the impact of the environmental crisis is to confront the question which is always asked about Lake Erie: how can we restore it? I believe the only valid answer is that no one knows. For it should be clear that even if overnight all of the pollutants now pouring into Lake Erie were stopped, there would still remain the problem of the accumulated mass of pollutants in the lake bottom.” IfsKnowsWayShouldBelieveStillsProblemI BelieveWaterAnswersClearMassCrisisImpactEnvironmentalBottomMeaningfulLakesPouringMost MeaningfulEnvironmental CrisisLake Erie Author:Barry Commoner
“Perhaps the simplest example is a synthetic plastic, which unlike natural materials, is not degraded by biological decay. It therefore persists as rubbish or is burned-in both cases causing pollution. In the same way, a substance such as DDT or lead, which plays no role in the chemistry of life and interferes with the actions of substances that do, is bound to cause ecological damage if sufficiently concentrated.” IfsWayPlayActionCausesNaturalRolesCasesExampleMaterialsEnvironmentalBoundsSubstanceDamageChemistryPlasticPollutionDecayBurnedInterferePersistSimplestEcologicalRubbishSyntheticDdtNatural Materials Author:Barry Commoner
“If you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, you are looking the wrong way.” IfsWayEndsLightTunnelsWrong WayLight At The End Of The TunnelEnd Of The Tunnel Author:Barry Commoner
“If you ask what you are going to do about global warming, the only rational answer is to change the way in which we do transportation, energy production, agriculture and a good deal of manufacturing. The problem originates in human activity in the form of the production of goods.” IfsWayHumansProblemFormAsksEnergyAnswersDealsActivityProductionsRationalGlobal WarmingGoodsAgricultureManufacturingTransportationHuman ActivityEnergy Production Author:Barry Commoner
“Seen that way, the wholesale transformation of production technologies that is mandated by pollution prevention creates a new surge of economic development.” WayTechnologyEconomicDevelopmentTransformationProductionsPollutionPreventionEconomic DevelopmentWholesale Author:Barry Commoner
“In certain ways, I'm not very different than I was when I was a teenager.” WayDifferentCertainTeenager Author:Barry Commoner
