Barry Commoner
Barry Commoner
Barry Commonerwas an American biologist, college professor, and politician. He was a leading ecologist and among the founders of the modern environmental movement. He ran for president of the United States in the 1980 U.S. presidential election on the Citizens Party ticket. He served as editor of Science Illustrated magazine...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionScientist
Date of Birth28 May 1917
CountryUnited States of America
Barry Commoner quotes about
meaningful powerful environmental-quality
The most meaningful engine of change, powerful enough to confront corporate power, may be not so much environmental quality, as the economic development and growth associated with the effort to improve it.
technology prevention way
Seen that way, the wholesale transformation of production technologies that is mandated by pollution prevention creates a new surge of economic development.
war technology profound
What is needed now is a transformation of the major systems of production more profound than even the sweeping post-World War II changes in production technology.
sides action side-effects
No action is without its side effects.
practice problem solve
Technologists practice faith too; 'Faith that problems have solutions before having the knowledge to solve them.'
teenager way different
In certain ways, I'm not very different than I was when I was a teenager.
simple environmental-quality gasoline
Environmental quality was drastically improved while economic activity grew by the simple expedient of removing lead from gasoline - which prevented it from entering the environment.
war vision nuclear
The AEC scientists were so narrowly focused on arming the United States for nuclear war that they failed to perceive facts - even widely known ones - that were outside their limited field of vision.
planets cooperatives
Nothing can survive on the planet unless it is a cooperative part of larger global life.
teacher doctors views
As the earth spins through space, a view from above the North Pole would encompass most of the wealth of the world - most of its food, productive machines, doctors, engineers and teachers. A view from the opposite pole would encompass most of the world's poor.
ecosystems long effort
Because the global ecosystem is a connected whole, in which nothing can be gained or lost and which is not subject to over-all improvement, anything extracted from it by human effort must be replaced. Payment of this price cannot be avoided; it can only be delayed. The present environmental crisis is a warning that we have delayed nearly too long.
country ghetto simple
For that reason the simple test of the slogan 'Consume Less' as a basis for social action on the environment would be to tell it to the blacks in the ghetto. The message will not be very well received for there are many people in this country who consume less than is needed to sustain a decent life.
meaningful believe impact
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.
lasts fads ifs
If environmentalism is a fad, it will be the last one.