The Polluters: The Making of Our Chemically Altered Environment - Hardcover

Ross, Benjamin; Amter, Steven

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199739951 ISBN 13: 9780199739950

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2010

Synopsis

The chemical pollution that irrevocably damages today's environment is, although many would like us to believe otherwise, the legacy of conscious choices made long ago. During the years before and just after World War II, discoveries like leaded gasoline and DDT came to market, creating new hazards even as the expansion and mechanization of industry exacerbated old ones. Dangers still felt today--smog, pesticides, lead, chromium, chlorinated solvents, asbestos, even global warming--were already recognized by chemists, engineers, doctors, and business managers of that era. A few courageous individuals spoke out without compromise, but still more ignored scientific truth in pursuit of money and prestige.

The Polluters reveals at last the crucial decisions that allowed environmental issues to be trumped by political agendas. It spotlights the leaders of the chemical industry and describes how they applied their economic and political power to prevent the creation of an effective system of environmental regulation. Research was slanted, unwelcome discoveries were suppressed, and friendly experts were placed in positions of influence, as science was subverted to serve the interests of business. The story of The Polluters is one that needs to be told, an unflinching depiction of the onslaught of chemical pollution and the chemical industry's unwillingness to face up to its devastating effects.

About this title

About the Author

Benjamin Ross is President of the Washington consulting firm, Disposal Safety, Inc. He is both environmental scientist and commentator on current affairs, and has served on committees of the National Academy of Sciences and the USEPA Science Advisory Board.

Steven Amter is a Senior Environmental Scientist at Disposal Safety, Inc. who specializes in the history of pollution.

Reviews

In this startling, intense, and brilliantly elucidated volume, Ross and Amter present a concise history of the American chemical industry. With examples both infamous (Love Canal) and long forgotten (Donora, Pennsylvania), the authors expose the historically close relationship between the industry and government regulators, making it sharply relevant to the present-day disasters of the BP oil spill and the Upper Big Branch Mine explosion. And there is little comfort found in the evidence of backroom deal making, determined neglect, and willful ignorance of solid research. The authors recount the stunning impact of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring when it was released in 1962 in a country still enthralled by the chemical industry’s control of science. Can anything be more startling than Henry du Pont’s assertion here that it was modern technology and not government which ended slavery and child labor? The sheer arrogance on display boggles the mind and makes this thoroughly researched and refreshingly nonpartisan work an unlikely page-turner. All it lacks is a happy ending, but hopefully the tide is finally turning on that score. --Colleen Mondor

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0199739951
• ISBN 13: 9780199739950
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240