It is simply economically impossible to require controls that even approach zero emissions. Barry Commoner More Quotes by Barry Commoner More Quotes From Barry Commoner 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. Barry Commoner environmental-quality entering simple Despite the dazzling successes of modern technology and the unprecedented power of modern military systems, they suffer from a common and catastrophic fault. While providing us with a bountiful supply of food, with great industrial plants, with high-speed transportation, and with military weapons of unprecedented power, they threaten our very survival. Barry Commoner survival technology military When you fully understand the situation, it is worse than you think. Barry Commoner environmental understanding thinking 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. Barry Commoner ecosystems effort long 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. Barry Commoner ddt environmental play Nothing can survive on the planet unless it is a cooperative part of larger global life. Barry Commoner cooperatives planets 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. Barry Commoner hazards environmental independent 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. Barry Commoner doctors views teacher Technologists practice faith too; 'Faith that problems have solutions before having the knowledge to solve them.' Barry Commoner solve problem practice The environmental crisis is a signal of this approaching catastrophe. Barry Commoner signals environmental crisis In general, any productive activity which introduces substances foreign to the natural environment runs a considerable risk of polluting it. Barry Commoner environmental risk running The AEC had at its command an army of highly skilled scientists. Barry Commoner command scientist army The age of innocent faith in science and technology may be over. Barry Commoner technology age may My entry into the environmental arena was through the issue that so dramatically - and destructively - demonstrates the link between science and social action: nuclear weapons. Barry Commoner environmental issues links 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. Barry Commoner environmental degradation ecosystems In certain ways, I'm not very different than I was when I was a teenager. Barry Commoner teenager different way 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. Barry Commoner technology war profound The methods that EPA introduced after 1970 to reduce air-pollutant emissions worked for a while, but over time have become progressively less effective. Barry Commoner epa method air By adopting the control strategy, the nation's environmental program has created a built-in antagonism between environmental quality and economic growth. Barry Commoner environmental-quality strategy growth World War II had a very important impact on the development of technology, as a whole. Barry Commoner impact technology war
