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
BARRY COMMONER
Barry Commoner on degradation
Barry Commoner51 quotes“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.”
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The age of innocent faith in science and technology may be over.
Barry CommonerBarry Commoner It reflects a prevailing myth that production technology is no more amenable to human judgment or social interests than the laws of thermodynamics, atomic structure or biological inheritance.
Barry CommonerBarry Commoner No action is without its side effects.
Barry CommonerBarry Commoner 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.
Barry CommonerBarry Commoner If you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, you are looking the wrong way.
Barry CommonerBarry Commoner Nothing ever dies, nothing ever goes away.
Barry CommonerBarry Commoner The first law of ecology is that everything is related to everything else.—->I dont believe in environmentalism as the solution to anything. What I believe is that environmentalism illuminates the things that need to be done to solve all of the problems together.
Barry CommonerBarry Commoner Everything is connected to everything else. Everything must go somewhere. Nature knows best. There is no such thing as a free lunch.
Barry CommonerBarry Commoner In nature, no organic substance is synthesized unless there is provision for its degradation; recycling is enforced.
Barry CommonerBarry Commoner Air pollution is not merely a nuisance and a threat to health. It is a reminder that our most celebrated technological achievements-the automobile, the jet plane, the power plant, industry in general, and indeed the modern city itself-are, in the environment, failures.
Barry CommonerBarry Commoner Science is triumphant with far-ranging success, but its triumph is somehow clouded by growing difficulties in providing for the simple necessities of human life on earth.
Barry CommonerBarry Commoner The environmental crisis is a global problem, and only global action will resolve it.
Barry CommonerBarry Commoner If you ask what you are going to do about global warming, the only rational answer is to change the way in which we do transportation, energy production, agriculture and a good deal of manufacturing. The problem originates in human activity in the form of the production of goods.
Barry CommonerBarry Commoner I see no reason to have my shirts ironed. It’s irrational.
Barry CommonerBarry Commoner When you fully understand the situation, it is worse than you think.
Barry CommonerBarry Commoner Environmental pollution is an incurable disease. It can only be prevented.
Barry CommonerBarry Commoner
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More on degradation
The degradation which characterizes the state into which you plunge him by punishing him pleases, amuses, and delights him.
Marquis de SadeMarquis de Sade The work of bestial degradation, begun by the victorious Germans, had been carried to its conclusion by the Germans in defeat.
Primo LeviPrimo Levi And there’s no question that it is a factor, but it’s preceded by the loss of resilience and degradation.
Sylvia EarleSylvia Earle The fragility, and even the degradation of our planet’s blue heart.
Sylvia EarleSylvia Earle Unless these unfortunates can be touched with the spark which ignites the spirit of individual enterprise and determination, they will only sink back into renewed apathy, degradation and despair. It is for us, who are more fortunate, to provide that spark.
Aga Khan IVAga Khan IV There appears to be momentum towards more and more misunderstandings between religions, a degradation of relations.
Aga Khan IVAga Khan IV The best armor is to keep out of range.
Abraham J. TwerskiAbraham J. Twerski The world has never yet seen a truly great and virtuous nation, because in the degradation of women, the very fountains of life are poisoned at their source.
Lucretia MottLucretia Mott