Environmental Outlook: "On a Farther Shore" By William Souder
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-09-04/environmental-outlook-farther-shore-william-souder
Growing up in Springdale, Penn., Rachel Carson was an avid reader who dreamed of becoming a writer. But a college biology teacher turned Carson’s interest to the sciences. Her work at the Bureau of Fisheries led to the 1951 bestseller, “The Sea Around Us,” which was the second of three books on ocean life. But then Carson learned a Long Island, N.Y., community was suing the federal government for spraying the insecticide DDT. Inspired by that case, Carson wrote the 1962 classic, “Silent Spring,” which launched the modern environmental movement. For this month’s Environmental Outlook: A new biography of the life and legacy of Rachel Carson.
Guests
William Souder
author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist biography of John Audubon, "Under a Wild Sky."
Read An Excerpt
“On a Farther Shore" by William Souder (2012). Copyright © The Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.
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Bluejays were my favorite bird. It was West Nile Virus killed them here in McAdenville, NC. And Climate Change brought West Nile. As much as I'm outdoors on our conservancy and hiking and biking and kayaking I saw only one this summer, probably the last Bluejay, over the Fourth of July.
Chris Hedges described the crustacean monoculture on the Maine seafloor, still shifting northward with the vanishing maple syrup industry, on the verge of collapse. (Truthdig /Monday) No blinder humor exists than to hear people repeating fearmongering statements about the national debt while ignoring the fact that our corn monocrop (36% of the World's corn, and no reserves to speak of) failed in a drought this year. Deregulation won't let Newt sow his oats on the Moon, but he can speculate better in commodities.
If God watches the sparrows seems like he'd do something for the Bluejays, and us Dodos too. Nah, He don't care, just keeps moving our grainbelt north, almost up to the Tarsands at Fort McMurray, Alberta. Can you ship grain in a pipeline? Put a little bread out for the birds, why don'tcha ?
(This was a prayer in case you care.)
No Pancake,
(The) God(s) care(s), S/He/They learned a long time ago that saving oneself only works when one wants to save themselves.
.
God has lent us all time on this earth.
As humans, we were given the charge to have dominion and subdue it. I don't think this includes destroying the earth.
I strongly believe the use of pesticides and chemicals in our food and the overdrilling of oil and natural gas and the insistance on the mining of coal for energy is destroying our air, water, and our well-beings as a whole.
IndieLady7: Dominionism and stewardship don't mix. No verse in the Bible tells how to clean up nuclear waste or undo fatal genetic engineering. Maybe the Mormons or Scientologists have broached these subjects, but not constructively.
Pancake Rankin:
While I am fully aware that there is no verse of the Bible specifically saying to clean up nuclear waste or undo fatal genetic engineering, we as humans are a Keystone Species. We are disproportiately large species on this planet and bear much responsibility of how things go on earth.
Monsanto mocking Rachel Carson and her book. SURPRISE...SURPRISE!!!
They're mocking the world now by forcing GMO's and infiltrating the government (i.e. Michael Taylor who was once a Monsanto attorney, now head of FDA)to get what they want.
I am 63 years old and remember as a young teen, my dad being so angry when the book came out. He was a tree surgeon and sprayed all the awful chemicals and ironically died at age 49 of lung disease. In my 40's I went back to school and was doing a paper on pesticides and herbicides and finally read the book. What an eye opener. I have been a gardener for years and always chemical free.
These are questions I would like to ask the author: Silent Spring was but one of several influential books and activities in that decade and I am wondering how that happened. Did Rachel Carson start the cascade or was this brewing for another reason? I think of God's Own Junkyard, With Heritage So Rich, The Death and Life of the Great American City, and Lady Bird Johnson's fight against the billboard industry. By the end of that decade we had the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, but it was preceded by the Wilderness Act, the Transportation Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, and the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act. What was going on? Also - I once met an aide to Stuart Udall and he told me a story that they were trying to figure out how to call this new sense of things - it was clear that "conservation" was no longer sufficient, and they came up with the usage "the environment" - I don't think he claimed they coined it, but they moved it into common parlance. But can that be true??
To indylady7.....micheal taylor was appointed by who?....Mr. Obama....Also would have liked to see some conversation concerning the long term effects of all the depleted uranium bombs that we have dropped on the middle east. What would Ms. Carson think about that?
Always enjoy this program.
The work of Rachel Carson shows the importance of Fellowships being granted to scholars.
As a member of American Association Women, I feel very proud of the fact that AAUW granted a fellowship to Rachel Carson which resulted in her work, "Silent Spring."
Always enjoy this program.
The work of Rachel Carson shows the importance of Fellowships being granted to scholars.
As a member of American Association Women, I feel very proud of the fact that AAUW granted a fellowship to Rachel Carson which resulted in her work, "Silent Spring."
Julia A. Arias
Pancake Rankin, just a quick point of fact:
West Nile virus in the United States is not a result of climate change: it first appeared in New York City in 1999, and at that point the die was cast that it would cover the continent. The species of mosquitoes which transmit it have long been present in the US and the strain of virus is of apparent Israeli origin. The high rate of global transport and trade is more culpable than climate, as with many other invasive species.
You are correct that it has caused considerable mortality in birds, although more acutely in crows than blue jays. Your local blue jay population may develop some degree of herd immunity and rebound (I hope it does); many crow populations have already done so across the US. Of course, there may be other factors depressing the population, e.g. competition with other avian species, destruction of habitat, etc.
I share your sadness at the seemingly relentless destruction of our natural world, but let's keep our spirits up, there's still plenty of nature out there. Happy bird watching!
-- Đẹp Trai
Balsamboy wrote: "To indylady7.....micheal taylor was appointed by who?....Mr. Obama....Also would have liked to see some conversation concerning the long term effects of all the depleted uranium bombs that we have dropped on the middle east. What would Ms. Carson think about that?"
Actually, this is Michael Taylor's second appointment. He was initially appointed during either the Clinton or Bush Administration. He left to go back to Monsanto. President Obama re-appointed him--which is sad.
I didn't even think about the uranium bombs, but yes, that would have been interesting conversation. If Ms. Carson were alive today, I'm not sure what she would think or what she would do because I really haven't heard environmnentalists talk about it. It would be my hope she would have rallied up the troops in protest.