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
suicidal environmental warning
The environmental crisis is a sign that the ecosphere is now so heavily strained that its continued stability is threatened. It is a warning that we must discover the source of this suicidal drive and master it before it destroys the environment-and ourselves.
earth-day survival environmental
We are in an environmental crisis which threatens the survival of this nation, and of the world as a suitable place of human habitation.
environmental-quality growth strategy
By adopting the control strategy, the nation's environmental program has created a built-in antagonism between environmental quality and economic growth.
independent environmental corporations
In every case, the environmental hazards were made known only by independent scientists, who were often bitterly opposed by the corporations responsible for the hazards.
environmental action problem
The environmental crisis is a global problem, and only global action will resolve it.
play ddt environmental
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.
ecosystems environmental degradation
Finally, since human beings are uniquely capable of producing materials not found in nature, environmental degradation may be due to the resultant intrusion into an ecosystem of a substance wholly foreign to it.
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.
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 years environmental
The modern assault on the environment began about 50 years ago, during and immediately after World War II.
running risk environmental
In general, any productive activity which introduces substances foreign to the natural environment runs a considerable risk of polluting it.
environmental disease pollution
Environmental pollution is an incurable disease. It can only be prevented.
technology environmental generations
The environmental crisis is somber evidence of an insidious fraud hidden in the vaunted productivity and wealth of modern, technology-based society. This wealth has been gained by rapid short-term exploitation of the environmental system, but it has blindly accumulated a debt to nature-a debt so large and so pervasive that in the next generation it may, if unpaid, wipe out most of the wealth it has gained us.
technology gaps needs
The gap between brute power and human need continues to grow, as the power fattens on the same faulty technology that intensifies the need.