Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit by Al Gore

Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit Reviews

• 
  Kinga

  “We learned, for example, that in some areas of Poland, children are regularly taken underground into deep mines to gain some respite from the buildup of gases and pollution of all sorts in the air. One can almost imagine their teachers emerging tentatively from the mine, carrying canaries to warn the children when it’s no longer safe for them to stay above the ground.”
  
  This is an actual quote. From a book. Written by a Nobel Prize Winner.
  
  It came out around the time I lived in the US on my one year cultural exchange program. I was bored to death and entertained myself with inventing crazy stories about Poland and feeding them to gullible American teenagers who went to school with me.
  
  I told them that although the shops in Poland are open all week, you can only buy things on Mondays. It's a part of government program against poverty and it stops people from buying too much shit they don't need.
  
  Also told them we keep lots of farm animals in our flats and houses even in cities because their body heat keeps us warm at night. The government provides one cow-radiator for a family but if you have some money you are sure to buy a sheep or two to supplement that. Especially in winter.
  
  So when Al Gore says 'we learned' I think he means he had an exchange student from Poland in his school.
  
  
• 
  Brett

  Gore deserves some serious credit for writing this book in 1992, before it was in vogue to care about the environment. And though things are now worse than when this was written, this book still seemed valuable to me. I have, of course, seen An Inconvient Truth (some bits of which are taken from Earth in the Balance), but this book helped give me a fuller understanding of Gore's thoughts on the environmental crisis.
  
  The first section--"Balance at Risk"--is the strongest. Here is where Gore lays out the major problems humanity is facing. Global warming and ozone depletion are at the top of the list, along with deforestation. The next section, entitled "The Search for Balance" too often wades into quasi-mysticism, but does make the legitimate point that in order to start to address the crisis, it would be helpful for people to feel some connection to the earth, beyond the desire to use the resources buried underneath it. The final section "Striking the Balance" calls for making "the rescue of the environment the central organizing principle for civilization." It is true that this is necessary, but Gore doesn't really illuminate the way in which such a change could be achieved. The stated goal would essentially require a wholesale remaking of society; that sort of thing does not just happen--it would require nothing less than the defeat of the most powerful instituions operating in the world--our corporate masters and the political and ideological structures that uphold them.
  
  In fact, what makes the book bittersweet, is that Gore does truly seem to be passionate about this cause. I don't doubt his sincerity. But even after 8 years as the vice president of the United States, he managed to accomplish little in terms of serious environmental progress. Not only that, but the public's willingness to endure even a small sacrifice has not increased whatsoever in the decades since Earth in the Balance was originally published. In his 2000 campaign, Gore did nothing to draw attention to environmental problems for fear of being tagged a treehugger (a tag which was nontheless applied to him). And outside of environmentalist circles, public outcry about the Bush administration's awful environmental record is virtually non-existent. And even as I write this, $4 gasoline has prompted the republican party to press to drill for oil on every speck of US land and our coastal areas; evidently, they feel the public is behind them on this issue. If that is true--if we cannot even countenance paying what Europe has paid at the pump for years before we are willing to destroy every last natural place--then I fear that the struggle to maintain a livable planet is already over.
  
  But I've wandered off topic. Earth in the Balance has some excellent pictures. The boats in the middle of the desert (which used to be the Aral Sea) are memorable, as is graphic from which the title of the book is taken--a Bush I era drawing of a scale with the entire earth on one side, and six bars of gold, apparently weighing an equal amount, on the other. If nothing else, Earth in the Balance will serve as a reminder that at least somebody was trying to sound the alarm about environmental catastrophe back when it still seemed possible to avert disaster.
• 
  Richard

  I read this right after seeing An Inconvenient Truth because I was curious to see what Gore had done in this format, and also to see how his perception of the environment had changed in the years between the two works.
  
  The problem with this book, and the reason I don't recommend it, is that it's short on science and long on spiritual/religious/newage (rhymes with sewage) malarkey. A book on environmentalism should persuade the reader with facts and explanations, and it should let scientists speak (as it were) to the reader as much as possible. But instead of taking that more serious approach, Gore wastes the better part of his book waxing poetic on mankind's God-given duty to shepherd the Earth, and lamenting the loss of the mystical connection that (he believes) our ancestors had with the planet. Reading that fluff, I had to wonder whether Gore really believed it or whether he was trying to appear "spiritually enlightened" for political appeal.
  
  At one point, Gore recalls Reagan's Interior Secretary Watt, who had famously remarked that there was no need to husband the environment because the Second Coming was imminent. Gore claims that Watt was being untrue to scripture, since the "true" faith holds that man's charge is to nurture the planet. Gore doesn't realize that there is no "true" interpretation when it comes to faith, and that that is (one reason) why it's better to stick with science.
  
  
  
• 
  Jimmy

  How do you get people to grasp the seriousness of this problem?
  
  Al Gore tried. Now Republicans think it is a "partisan issue."
  
  The fact that he wrote this in 1992 is what good citizenship is all about.
  
  There are some offbeat passages in the book that make it interesting. For example, he speaks about dysfunctional families. The result of a long period of dependence on the nurturing parent during infancy and childhood meant that the children of such families "will absorb and integrate the dysfunctional rules and warped assumptions about life being transmitted by the parents." It took great courage for Mr. Gore to say something like that. How else do you explain Trump rallies? And the dysfunctional governments and countries built by such people?
  
  We are disconnected from the natural world. We think of nature as something separate from us. As if we were not animals.
  
  Somehow we need a new "common purpose." But if an existential crisis such as climate change cannot bring people together, what can? It seems hopeless to me, but I plug on.
• 
  Pedro Varanda

  27 depois de ter sido escrito este livro continua assustadoramente actual. Al Gore demonstra através de uma linguagem simples o extremo impacto que o crescimento da população e o consumismo louco estão a causar ao nosso planeta. Apresenta também soluções e prova que a mudança ainda é possível. Gostei muito desta visão ecológica e recomendo.
• 
  Sean

  How to rate an almost 30yo book on a topic that I’ve read/studied extensively (including Gores own An Inconvenient Truth and Our Choice)...
  Some material is unavoidably dated, but a lot is still very relevant today (sometimes scarily so).
• 
  Pete daPixie

  Super Al wrote this book in the early 1990's when he was in the Senate. Almost ten years before running for President against Bush. That election has cost world ecology a decade!
  Gore's 'Earth in the Balance' is a clear warning given to the human race against it's relentless carbon fuelled rape of mother earth. The ecology issues haven't changed since A.G. wrote the book, they're just more urgent now.
  He writes of the dysfunctional human spirit that he traces back to the ideas of Rene Descartes and Sir Francis Bacon that have removed the 'connection' with the earth and driven us to our present consumer societies, and our wasteful exploitation of earths resources.
  He ends this monster with his proposal for a new 'Marshall Plan' to address third world debt and establish international environmental treaties and co-operation.
  Question: What did he achieve when he was Clinton's VP?
  Whatever....Gore v Bush. The winner of that election couldn't read a book like this let alone write one.
• 
  Tresuiri

  An excellent piece of work by Mr. Gore. Although I commiserate his electoral loss, I appreciate his taking the opportunity to produce this work. I agree with the cover, an outstanding piece of leadership in our time of need. I have a new found respect for Mr. Gore. It is depressing that since this book was published, progress has not been meted out to meet the need. If you feel that you want or need to address the global environmental imbalance, this is an excellent resource to put it all in context as well as giving insights and examples of what you can do on an individual level. And if you're already there, the book gives examples of next steps of what one can do as well as directions to take the fight. Note that this book is not comprised of case studies, but rather a discourse of Mr. Gore's experience and his personal views. The examples are given as illustrative elaborations of his concepts. I want to give this book five stars, but I can't: I was able to put it down and wait till I had time to finish it later. Nonetheless, I strongly advocate reading this book.
• 
  Laura

  I shudder to think that our destructive habits have worsened since "Earth in Balance's" conception in '92. "Earth in Balance" is laden with emotive stories and facts, proceeded by Gore's proposed solutions. Gore's occasional attempts to harmonize religion and environmentalism both impress and amuse, as it has become apparent during the current conservative presence that we must de-polarize the two to achieve success.
  
  The book is far from brief, which, in all honesty, could turn several desired audiences from reading. A bit of condensing could be beneficial. Gore's movie is a much better "baby step" for hopeful converts, but overall I feel it's an crucial read -- for motivation, responsibility, self-education, and for the imperative action we must take to resolve this environmental dilemma.
• 
  Julia

  Long before AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH became famous, Gore wrote EARTH IN THE BALANCE in 1992, an amazing book with detailed research. He had just turned 40, lost the presidential bid, and his 6 year old son had been hit by a car. Gore worked on the book as he sat by his son's hospital bed. If anyone needs proof as to how brilliant this man is, just read this book. On p. 12 he states:
  
  "In the end, we must restore a balance within ourselves between who we are and what we are doing....The more deeply I search for the roots of the global environmental crisis, the more I am convinced that it is an outward manifestation of the inner crisis that is, for lack of a better word, spiritual."
  
  America may never realize just how brilliant a man Gore is--and how much we lost in 2000.
• 
  Omar

  "Having attempted in earlier chapters to understand the crisis from the perspectives offered by the earth sciences, economics, sociology, history, information theory, psychology, philosophy, and religion, I now want to examine, from my vantage point as a politician, what I think can be done about it." (270).
  
  It's a remarkable work of synthesis; at times, Gore overstretches (especially the bit about religion), but I can really appreciate his attempt to make the environment the "organizing principle" of modern society. It's also one of those cases, as happened for me with The Origin of Species, when you realize that so much of what you have learned recently had already been thought about and articulated years ago. At the same time, you get the sense that there is a deep sadness here.
• 
  Lynda

  I've been a fan of Gore for awhile. I learned the 'inconvenient truth' of what our inaction
  has done to the planet. and how clean water will
  be scarce worldwide.
• 
  Allison Roy

  Fiiiiiiiiiinally finished this. I've been reading it for over a month. Life has held some big changes in the last few months so I haven't had time to read but I've been chipping away at it recently. This book was so beautiful. Probably the closest book I wood refer to as my bible. It's take on the environment and human spirituality was so lovely. This was written before An Inconvenient Truth and imo is much, much better. This is probably my favorite book I've read concerning environmental issues as well as an introspective look at humanity. I recommend!
• 
  Chris

  I borrowed this from a library in my ward in Tokyo (they had it!) and was in awe at not just how well written it is, not just that it has solutions and ways for the US to lead, but how it seems to envisage the Global Goals/Millennium Development Goals.
  
  Truly ahead of his time, with accolades from Bill Moyers and Carl Sagan, replete with a 300-book bibliography.
  
  biblio has it on sale, too.
• 
  Andrea Houle

  Even though this is a bit outdated its still very relevant and if anything you know things are worse now than when the book was written. It makes you realize how bad things are and really has you brainstorming ways to make a difference. I think everyone should read this book so everyone can be on the same page. Definately a must read
• 
  James Edwards

  Amazing, prophetic & illuminating. As a whole, this book illustrates in detail how humans have both negatively affected the global environment while also showing how we can turn the ever growing calamity around if we can all manage to work together.
• 
  Sven Schöbel

  even though it has been written in 2006 and politics in US has changed since then in a drastically way, the warnings and findings in this book are still valid. And the hints to do "better" at the end of the book can still encourage each and everyone to do their share to save our planet.
• 
  Rachel

  It's horrifying that this book was written 26 years ago and there are people who still think climate change is fake...
• 
  Henry James

  Unreadable.
• 
  Daniel Geiger

  Climate crisis is happening. We should've listened Al Gore's concerns instead of mocking him. He should've won the election in 2000.
• 
  Joe Kennedy

  Some great ideas and forward thinking for 1992, but I didn't feel very engaged reading this book.
• 
  Anna Engel

  I really want to get into this book, but it's too heavy on the philosophy and too light on actionable items. Maybe that came up later, but I just didn't have the heart to get that far.
• 
  Danielle Cozzola

  This book had a few interesting and intriguing parts/analogies/graphs, but the majority of it seemed unorganized and did not engage me.
• 
  Marko

  I have 3 different editions.
• 
  Michael

  Here is the thing: there are too many people creating too much waste and using too many resources for all of this to last for too much longer. Soil, air, water, food...none of the arrows are pointing in the right direction. That's just how it is. Other civilizations have risen, and fallen, because of their inability to exist in harmony with the environment (although never on the scale we are talking about now). I suspect that, at some point--it will seem so sudden!--nature will express her displeasure with us. It will not be pleasant.
  
  There is no will, at the level of the individual, the nation, or the global community, to address the imbalances between what we consume, what we create, and what we excrete. I am not immune from a phenomena that I have discovered infects the majority of our thinking in these early days of the 21st century: We believe that today is the same as yesterday, and that tomorrow will be the same as today. This is an error, perhaps a fatal one.
  
  I find the current state of our planet less frightening than I do depressing because it is all so unnecessary. I also try to remember that, should the worst befall our society, our species will most likely continue...but will our civilization? That's the question. Having come so far, we have much to lose. We stood up on the savannah a 100,000 years ago, then reached the moon the year I was born. I like to believe that we could, if we willed it, reach other planets, other stars.I hope that someday, we do. I am not convinced that we will because, simply put, we seem to lack the will to do so.
  
  There is little sense in worrying about any of the issues brought up by Mr. Gore or other Greens because things will not change without some sort of planetary bitch-slap upside all of our heads. I do not wish this to be so, but I believe it to be so.
  
  For myself, as I stood outside on November 14th in short sleeves and shorts raking autumn leaves in New England and wondering at how incredibly warm it was, I looked up at the clouds racing over head and thought, "Such a beautiful world." I wish more people would do the same. We do not exist apart from our world; we cannot. We are smart animals, spiritual animals, remarkable animals, and while we may be more than mere animals, we are still animals. If we continue to poison our habitat, our future will not be very bright.
• 
  Stuart Dean

  Avoiding politics and reviewing this book solely on its literary merits, this is an very well written book. The subject matter is presented in an interesting manner and not at all preachy. Al Gore began his career as a newspaper reporter so he actually knows how to write. And he's been everywhere, from the North Pole to the South Pole(literally), from Taiwan to Kenya and everywhere in between. Many interesting anecdotes fill out the pages.
  
  It is not solely about global warming but also about general environmental degradation caused by poor land management, and often conflates the two. A bit short on science and devoid of scientific method, Gore accepts all arguments which support anthropomorphic climate change and doesn't so much reject arguments against as rarely mention them at all. Still, his arguments are lucid and engaging, and he comes across as a perfectly reasonable person trying to impress upon the reader the importance of his topic.
  
  The book's weakest part is the third section in which Gore puts forth his proposals for solving the problems of climate change. After many times declaring his allegiance to capitalism and democracy, he proposes a world spanning organization with governing and economic power which he names the "Global Marshall Plan." The unrealistic expanse of this plan belies the progress possible and already made in the realms of pollution controls and recycling since the 1970's. People in Michigan will not support any plan when it's January and they can't afford heating oil, and no global plan will save the Aral Sea if the people of Uzbekistan keep draining it to irrigate the desert.
  
  People who are adherents to climate change politics will find this book wholly supports their position in a calm and respectful voice. People who deny climate change politics will not be convinced to change their position but it will give them a better idea of why other people are so wholeheartedly behind it. The blurb on the dust jacket actually proclaims this to be a "prophetic, even holy book." Indeed, Earth in the Balance belongs in the lexicon with Silent Spring, The Population Bomb, and even Unsafe at Any Speed. Read it and find out why people march in the streets.
• 
  Richard

  Al Gore was front and center before the American people who cry for a leader but never follow. Politician but last, scientifically literate, sociologist, historian...Al Gore is a modern Renaissance man, a 21st century Benjamin Franklin.
  
  In the 2000 election, you can see remember the struggling Democratic establishment whose view was clearly to hold on to the conservative "Blue-dog" Reagan voting Democrats. What more painful reminder is there than Gore's choice of running mate, Joe Lieberman? Those voters cost us more than they ever benefitted us. In 2016, those voters are irrelevant, come along or go to the clown tent, we don't need you, it's up to your own conscience to make the historically huge and relatively simple decision to join the majority and to choose science over marketing, long term thinking over the short-term thinking clearly shorting the future of America's children.
  
  Al Gore should be revered as a founding father of the Progressive Democrats. He is a man of vision and if you can read this book, its not too dated to be consumed. For over 20 years, progress had as many losses to apathy as it had success, but now we are beginning to see renewable energy technology reach the price points that make the economies of scale leap exponentially. The time is now, the curve is heading up, the lowest points forever behind us and the takeoff is as vertical as a shuttle launch.
  
  There was a future 30 years ago and it is today's present, many acted as if they didn't believe that were true and chose accordingly. There is a future in today's present as well, and as Gore states, "We can believe in that future and work to achieve it and preserve it, or we can whirl blindly on, behaving as if one day there will be no children to inherit our legacy. The choice is ours; the Earth is in the Balance."