The story of the National Resources Defense Council, movingly told by founder and former president John H. Adams, who conveys the struggles and victories of building a large political action organization.
BOOKLIST, STARRED REVIEW
Forty years ago, John Adams, an ardent litigator, joined forces with a band of innovative Yale law students, including the now-renowned environmentalist James Gustave Speth, to create the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the environment. Setting a course for responsible militancy, Adams took the helm, and while the rest should be history, the full and remarkably instructive story of the NRDC s ingenuity, perseverance, and landmark triumphs has not previously been told. Assisted by coauthors Patricia Adams and George Black, editor of OnEarth, John Adams energetically pilots a page-turning insider s chronicle of the groundbreaking watchdog group s key battles, bold moves, and hard lessons. Early on, the NRDC discovered just how effective governmental regulation can be as they fought with law and science to defend diverse communities and ecosystems against chemical pollution, strip-mining, clear-cu