United States
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In this important new book on the declining health of one of America's leading environmental treasures, Howard Ernst reveals a Chesapeake bay that has become functionally dead. He argues that the Chesapeake Bay succumbed to a 'light green' environmental movement that has too often adopted a philosophy of compromise over confrontation and that has fueled a 'political dead zone' where political leaders posture but fail to make the hard decisions needed to achieve real improvement in the Bay's health. While blunt in his evaluation of past and present failures to restore the Bay, Ernst believes that there is still time to turn the restoration effort around and sets out new 'dark green' strategies to do so. In the concluding chapter, five long-time bay activists provide first-person accounts of their battles and hopes for the future. Hailed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as 'a must-read for anyone concerned about environmental protection,' this challenging book provides a wake-up call for everyone concerned about the future of the Chesapeake Bay and other ecological treasures throughout America.
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Debunking the Light Green Paradigm
- Environmental Conflict: A Clash of Values
- Dark Green Environmental Thought
- Light Green Environmental Thought
- Cornucopian Thought
- The Political Dead Zone
Chapter 2: The Polite Politics of Light Green Environmentalism
- Environmental Economics 101
- The Long Struggle for Sensible Environmental Management
- Recent Developments in Regional Management
- A Model of Success or a Model of Deception?
- The Sticky Sweet Stuff of Light Green Environmental Promises
Chapter 3: Environmental Journalists, Our Endangered Filter Feeders
- Why Environmental Journalism Matters
- The State of Journalism in America
- The State of Environmental Journalism in America
- Understanding the Environmental Beat
- Goals of the Environmental Reporter
- Elements of Career Success for Environmental Journalists
- How Editors View Their Readers
Chapter 4: Environmental Advocacy in the Dead Zone
- In Defense of Sacred Places
- The Belly of the Beast
- The Outside Game
- Media Master
- The Last Word
Notes
References
Index
About the Authors
Howard R. Ernst, professor of political science at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, is the author of Chesapeake Bay Blues.
"Ernst is devoted to elucidating both obvious and subtle aspects of the catastrophic transformation of the Chesapeake Bay from a vast, fecund 'ecological treasure' into a dead zone, first in Chesapeake Bay Blues (2003), and now in this eye-opening inquiry into the failure to restore the Bay, in spite of the spawning of 600-plus environmental groups and the allocation of huge amounts of money [...] Ernst's incisive and thought-provoking study pinpoints the sticking points holding up environmental progress and offers a do's-and-don'ts primer to effective action."
– Booklist, December 2009
"Howard Ernst has done it again, creating a stunning mosaic of politics, policy, and the environment. Nobody writes about environmental politics with more clarity or understanding than Ernst [...] ."
– Dr. Larry Sabato, University of Virginia
"Like Paul Revere, Howard Ernst calls us to arms – to rescue our birthright to a clean environment. Our great waterways are 'functionally dead,' he warns, maimed by 'raw greed, political hypocrisy' and well-intentioned but weak-kneed environmentalists. It is time, Ernst declares, to mount a 'dark green' revolution against our 'political dead zone' and reclaim our birthright. And he points the way."
– Hedrick Smith, Pulitzer Prize and Emmy award-winning journalist, correspondent, and producer of Poisoned Waters
"I read with special interest the chapter on environmental journalism, which describes with accuracy and wisdom the dangerous decline of reporting in this area. It's clearly a major reason why progress is so halting and slow when it happens at all."
– Bill McKibben, Founder of 350.org
"Ernst is back with a new book, called Fight for the Bay, striking out in some new directions with sharpening important insights that have turned out to be true [...] Ernst plows new ground in tackling a fact many Americans haven't yet realized: The decline of newspaper investigative reporting will affect their lives, their well-being, and their environment."
– Bay Weekly, 2009
"Professor Ernst's new concept – the political dead zone – will change the way people think about environmental politics. This book is a must-read for anyone concerned with environmental protection."
– Robert F. Kennedy Jr., author of Crimes Against Nature
"Howard Ernst has done it again, creating a stunning mosaic of politics, policy, and the environment. Nobody writes about environmental politics with more clarity or understanding than Ernst."
– Dr. Larry Sabato, University of Virginia
"There are many individuals and organizations doing important work, and Ernst chronicles their struggles in detail. A passionate call to action from a longtime activist, this read will shock and inspire a range of concerned citizens, from homeowners to journalists to lawmakers."
– Publishers Weekly, Web Exclusive Review, November 2009
"This short and straightforward book calls for regulatory, legislative and enforcement action to protect the Chesapeake [...] Ernst's discussion of the different mind-sets of what he calls cornucopians, light-green and dark-green environmentalists, is provocative and insightful [...] Fight for the Bay is a compelling book that may one day be viewed as the Chesapeake's counterpart to Silent Spring."
– The Capital, December 2009
"Ernst's Fight for the Bay is an incisive look at an important ecosystem and what communities everywhere can learn from it. Researchers, environmentalists, and political activists of all kinds may find it an enlightening read."
– The Futurist, March 2010
"He is best known for his work in the area of environmental politics and is considered a leading authority on the Chesapeake Bay restoration program."
– The Evening Sun, March 2010
"Ernst concisely details the irony of an ecosystem once remarkably productive, precisely because of its nutrient-rich waters, becoming threatened by excessive nutrients [...] Recommended."
– Choice, August 2010
"The general public may largely view environmentalists as all being green, but author Howard Ernst points out in his latest book that the conservation community is far from a monolithic block. Rather, environmentalists come in all shades of green and he argues that the shade of green that dominates political debate could determine the future of the Chesapeake in, Fight for the Bay."
– Bay Journal
