My Green Manifesto
Down the Charles River in Pursuit of a New Environmentalism
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
All environmentalism is local: “A wonderfully readable book” about saving the planet by focusing first on our own habitats (The Boston Globe).
Though environmental awareness is on the rise, our march toward ecological collapse continues. What was once a movement based primarily on land preservation, endangered species, and policy reform is now a fractured mess of back-to-the-landers, capitalist “green lifestyle” vendors, technology worshipers, and countless special interest groups.
Inspired by a rough-and-tumble journey across country and down river, David Gessner, a John Burroughs Award winner, makes the case for a new environmentalism. In a frank, funny, and incisive call to arms that spans from the Cape Wind Project to the Monkey Wrench Gang, he considers why we do or do not fight to protect and restore wilderness, and reminds us why it’s time to join the fray.
Known as an environmental advocate “reminiscent of Edward Abbey” (Library Journal), Gessner rebels against this fragmented environmentalism and holier-than-thou posturing. He also suggests that global problems, though real, are disempowering. While introducing us to lovable, stubborn Dan Driscoll, “a regular guy fighting a local fight for a limited wilderness,” he argues for a movement focused on local issues and grounded in a more basic, more holistic—and ultimately more effective—defense of home.
“Funny and inspiring.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this funny and inspiring manifesto, Gessner (Return of the Osprey) canoes down Boston's Charles River with Dan Driscoll, an upbeat, pot-smoking, environmental planner, who has spent nearly 20 years fighting to revitalize the once famously polluted river. As they paddle, Gessner meditates on environmentalism (which he thinks has "lost its soul"), on global warming, and the "shrill warnings about our pending doom" sounding from the environmental community. Gessner sets out to find a new environmentalism, something "that is a part of everyday life, not running roughshod over it." For Gessner, environmentalism begins with a connection to a particular place. It needs advocates like Driscoll, "a stubborn guy who fell in love with a place and then fought like hell for it." And while his friend's fight to bring a bit of the natural world back to the banks of the Charles may not account for much in the long run, Gessner believes that committing to a lifelong environmental fight is an act of personal fulfillment. The book is an easy, pleasurable read, with an environmental message that seems true enough: there is still transcendence to be found in the "limited wild" of our own communities. So get out there, enjoy it, and fight for it before it's gone because, at least according to Gessner, this is the key to a better life.
