A LONGMAN TOPICS Reader Listening to Earth CHRISTOPHER HALLOWELL Baruch College, City University of New York WALTER LEVY Pace University & New York San Francisco Boston London Toronto Sydney Tokyo Singapore Madrid Mexico City Munich Paris Cape Town Hong Kong Montreal
CONTENTS Historical Chronology and Context ix Introduction 1 CHAPTER 1 Value of the Land 5 /o/zn Muir, The American Forests 7 John Muir believed that nature was God's temple and its destruction sacrilegious. Muir's central question is: "Why should man value himself as more than a small part of the one great unit of creation?" Mary Austin, My Neighbor s Field 13 Mary Austin, naturalist and feminist, embraced the Southwest its spaces, vegetation, native peoples, and the bravado of white settlers. In "My Neighbors Field," she takes pleasure in land she does not own and admires it as it slowly goes wild. Aldo Leopold, The Land Ethic 18 The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of community to include soils, waters, plants, animals, or collectively the land. Margaret L. Knox, The World According to Cushman 31 Chuck Cushman, disillusioned environmentalist, argues that property owners must defend themselves against the governments depriving citizens of their land and property rights. Barry Lopez, Caring for the Woods 35 Taking care of the land is a powerful way of taking care of oneself. Thinking and Writing About Chapter 1 42 Additional Resources 42 CHAPTER 2 Urban Vision, Rural Reflections Henry David Thoreau, Walking A rhapsody on the need for "wildness" as a restorative for the human spirit, a restorative that Thoreau believes cannot be found in the town or city. 43 44
vi Contents Peter Huber, How Cities Green the Planet 53 Ironically, the growth of cities may turn out to be necessary to the protection of the environment. Marie Winn, The Regulars 63 New York City's Central Park has become an unintended haven for birds and other wild animals, and for the people who observe and listen to them. Tara Hulen, Dispatch from Toxic Town 73 Anniston, Alabama, once a Model City, is now suffering the effects of years of toxic dumping. What are its people to do? Thinking and Writing About Chapter 2 78 Additional Resources 78 CHAPTER 3 Local Landscapes 79 Sarah Ome Jewett, A White Heron 81 A nine-year-old girl in this short story is tempted by the beauty of a wild thing, a white heron, and the ten dollars, a princely sum, she will receive from an ornithologist/hunter for disclosing its whereabouts. Sue Hubbell, Winter 90 The author's calm life in rural Arkansas is set in turmoil when locals collide over damming a river. Joy Williams, One Acre: On Devaluing Real Estate to Keep Land Priceless 95 Even an acre of land can maintain its natural integrity if its owners can maintain theirs. Rebecca Solnit, The Orbits of Earthly Bodies, 105 As much as Rebecca Solnit loves the wilderness and wildlife, she must have urban excitement. Thinking and Writing About Chapter 3 109 Additional Resources 109 CHAPTER 4 The Human Price 111 Rachel Carson, The Human Price 113 The chemical control of nature and indiscriminate use of pesticides may benefit us immensely before the devastating effects become apparent.
Contents vii Terry Tempest Williams, The Clan of One-Breasted Women 122 When radiation fall-out drifted over their homes in the Salt Lake region of Utah, the women in the Williams's family suffered an increase of breast cancer, but the government would not listen. Michael Pollan, Behind the Organic- Industrial Complex 130 As organic foods have become big agribusiness, the meaning of organic has become mired in legislation and slick labeling. Darcy Frey, How Green Is BP? 149 BP, the world's second largest oil company, is having a hard time reinventing itself as environmentally friendly when its bottom line remains oil and profit. Thinking and Writing About Chapter 4 162 Additional Resources 162 CHAPTERS Personal Views 163 Edward Abbey, The First Morning 165 While entranced by the natural beauty of Moab National Monument in Utah, the author wonders why people do not take the time to appreciate what is in front of them. Leslie Mormon Silko, Landscape, History, and the Pueblo Imagination 171 For some Native Americans, every plant, every rock, every arroyo establishes a link between character and place. Sallie Bingham, A Woman's Land 183 Turning the sexist tradition of society and property rights topsy-turvy, Bingham wonders if developing ideas and practices for land use are gender-related. Steve Chappie, Bugz 188 An off-the-cuff look at bothersome insects eventually recognizes that their onerousness has nothing to do with us, and everything to do with the wonders of nature. Thinking and Writing About Chapter 5 193 Additional Resources 193
viii Contents CHAPTER 6 Prospects for the Future 195 Edward O. Wilson, The Environmental Ethic 198 If we lose our connection with nature and the totality of biodiversity, the consequences will be catastrophic. Linda Hogan, Walking 207 Learning to listen to the earth may help find a language that heals the universal soul. Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins, Once Upon a Planet 210 The challenge to business in the future is to understand how ecosystems work and to operate within nature's rules which are not society's rules. Christopher Hallowell, Coming to Terms 224 The disappearance of South Louisiana's coastal wetlands due to lackadaisical environmental considerations has marked a shift in the attitudes and ways of local fishermen and bayou dwellers. Thinking and Writing About Chapter 6 238 Additional Resources 238 Credits 239