The age of innocent faith in science and technology may be over.
BARRY COMMONERThe age of innocent faith in science and technology may be over.
BARRY COMMONERThe 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 COMMONERThe gap between brute power and human need continues to grow, as the power fattens on the same faulty technology that intensifies the need.
BARRY COMMONEREverything is connected to everything else.
BARRY COMMONERScience 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 COMMONERI see no reason to have my shirts ironed. It’s irrational.
BARRY COMMONEREarth Day 1970 was irrefutable evidence that the American people understood the environmental threat and wanted action to resolve it.
BARRY COMMONERAs 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 COMMONERIn general, any productive activity which introduces substances foreign to the natural environment runs a considerable risk of polluting it.
BARRY COMMONERIn certain ways, I’m not very different than I was when I was a teenager.
BARRY COMMONEREverything is connected to everything else. Everything must go somewhere. Nature knows best. There is no such thing as a free lunch.
BARRY COMMONERNothing can survive on the planet unless it is a cooperative part of larger global life.
BARRY COMMONERNothing ever dies, nothing ever goes away.
BARRY COMMONEREnvironmental 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 COMMONERIf environmentalism is a fad, it will be the last one.
BARRY COMMONERIn 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