Rambled a but at times. Threw some political and personal commentary in at times. I enjoyed it more than I thought. This issue is too big not to research and listen to all points of view.

I borrowed this from a library in my ward in Tokyo (they had it!) and was in awe at not just how well written it is, not just that it has solutions and ways for the US to lead, but how it seems to envisage the Global Goals/Millennium Development Goals.

Truly ahead of his time, with accolades from Bill Moyers and Carl Sagan, replete with a 300-book bibliography.

biblio has it on sale, too.

"Having attempted in earlier chapters to understand the crisis from the perspectives offered by the earth sciences, economics, sociology, history, information theory, psychology, philosophy, and religion, I now want to examine, from my vantage point as a politician, what I think can be done about it." (270).

It's a remarkable work of synthesis; at times, Gore overstretches (especially the bit about religion), but I can really appreciate his attempt to make the environment the "organizing principle" of modern society. It's also one of those cases, as happened for me with The Origin of Species, when you realize that so much of what you have learned recently had already been thought about and articulated years ago. At the same time, you get the sense that there is a deep sadness here.

Estava com vontade de pegar num livro deste tipo. Identifico-me com o autor e com as suas preocupações em relação ao ambiente, numa perspectiva macro. As três estrelas significam algo. Por um lado, tempos informação bastante pertinente sobre as condições actuais, além da contextualização histórica, exemplos de todo o globo, abordagens à filosofia, sociologia e diversidade cultural. Existe informação, identificação do problema e sugestão para o enfrentar. Por outro lado, a ligação demasiado política, espiritual e o papel prioritário dos EUA. Algumas divagações exageradas, considerações que não caem muito bem num tema com tanta informação científica para mostrar. Al Gore é político e o livro é o espelho daquilo que sabe fazer melhor. É bom saber que ainda existem pessoas com esta preocupação. Recomendo.

I suspect I'm the only person ever to have read it. Not much of a book, but there are some amazing factoids.

Human civilization economical prowess by, with our knowing or not, geological exploitation (water, air, soil) has lead us to our own threat of survival --our earth is loosing its capabilities to replenish its natural resources. Both household and factories wastes are making things worse.

We are ignorant of their consequences because they take place nowhere near 'our backyards' and too gradually, too. The consequences are now here and ignorance is no more an option. We are challenged to choose between proceeding with our conventional economical venture thus exhausting the earth, or commit ourselves to global crisis treatment thus inventing new economical approach.


Earth in the Balance is a moral argument as well as political.

This was a compelling read. Al Gore covers a lot of ground in discussing what was known about carbon emissions up until the time the book was published, and makes a strong case for environmental rights. He goes from discussing consumerism, addiction, and pollution to tying in how all these factors are indicative of an underlying issue. He names this issue as humanity’s toxic relationship with the earth. I would recommend this read. Although the politics that he mentions are outdated, the facts and figures that he cites are still crucial in understanding the climate crisis and its impact on the world today.

At this point this book is far more interesting as a historical document than as a standalone work. But it really is a remarkable historical document.

It's hard to understand in an era when even Sarah Palin concedes that some climate change is happening, but it took enormous courage for a major party candidate to unequivocally talk about regulating carbon in the early 1990's. To really get the impact of this book, you have to read it remembering that most people thought Gore was crazy for writing it.

Most of the book is fairly standard biographical boilerplate typical of a presidential biography. But it develops into the strong ecological argument that would become Gore's legacy. Most importantly, it was one of the first books to articulate a framework for addressing climate change in concrete policy terms -- moving beyond scientific consensus to the far more difficult battleground of the US Congress. Gore has written better, more urgent books about the subject since (and frankly, "public intellectual Gore" is usually more engaging than "soon-to-be VP Gore"), but this one is special because it captures his unique place in restarting the long-dormant American environmental dialogue.

Super Al wrote this book in the early 1990's when he was in the Senate. Almost ten years before running for President against Bush. That election has cost world ecology a decade!
Gore's 'Earth in the Balance' is a clear warning given to the human race against it's relentless carbon fuelled rape of mother earth. The ecology issues haven't changed since A.G. wrote the book, they're just more urgent now.
He writes of the dysfunctional human spirit that he traces back to the ideas of Rene Descartes and Sir Francis Bacon that have removed the 'connection' with the earth and driven us to our present consumer societies, and our wasteful exploitation of earths resources.
He ends this monster with his proposal for a new 'Marshall Plan' to address third world debt and establish international environmental treaties and co-operation.
Question: What did he achieve when he was Clinton's VP?
Whatever....Gore v Bush. The winner of that election couldn't read a book like this let alone write one.

Part scientific education, part philosophical examination of the human soul and spirit, then-Sen. Gore brings his own unique flavor (and language) to the growing crisis which is our force of nature on the earth itself. Through his own personal traumas, to the many traumas the earth has faced with each passing century and with greater and greater millions to provide for, Sen. Gore maintains that a way forward that is both compassionate and economically viable is possible. While we might hear of the Green New Deal (GND), Sen. Gore calls for a Global Marshall Plan, with much of the same important facets and incentives highlighted in each. One hopes that with the passing of time (more than 30 years since its publication in 1992) it's still not too late. Its also highly ironic that Sen. Gore, who may be considered now a Green politician, was purportedly defeated in 2000 by of all things, the Green Party. While I don't believe this to be the case, it is intriguing to hope that Gore's influence in future environmental policy is indeed possible.

Buen libro para entender los primeros pasos que se dieron sobre el cambio climático a nivel mundial y como EEUU falló en liderar este ámbito. De igual forma, se tocan puntos importante que como sociedad deberíamos abordar, porque aun muchos de los problemas desarrollados están más vigentes que nunca, a pesar de ser un libro escrito hace casi 25 años. Sin dudas da para pensar que otro mundo viviríamos si Al Gore hubiese sido electo presidente.

Here is the thing: there are too many people creating too much waste and using too many resources for all of this to last for too much longer. Soil, air, water, food...none of the arrows are pointing in the right direction. That's just how it is. Other civilizations have risen, and fallen, because of their inability to exist in harmony with the environment (although never on the scale we are talking about now). I suspect that, at some point--it will seem so sudden!--nature will express her displeasure with us. It will not be pleasant.

There is no will, at the level of the individual, the nation, or the global community, to address the imbalances between what we consume, what we create, and what we excrete. I am not immune from a phenomena that I have discovered infects the majority of our thinking in these early days of the 21st century: We believe that today is the same as yesterday, and that tomorrow will be the same as today. This is an error, perhaps a fatal one.

I find the current state of our planet less frightening than I do depressing because it is all so unnecessary. I also try to remember that, should the worst befall our society, our species will most likely continue...but will our civilization? That's the question. Having come so far, we have much to lose. We stood up on the savannah a 100,000 years ago, then reached the moon the year I was born. I like to believe that we could, if we willed it, reach other planets, other stars.I hope that someday, we do. I am not convinced that we will because, simply put, we seem to lack the will to do so.

There is little sense in worrying about any of the issues brought up by Mr. Gore or other Greens because things will not change without some sort of planetary bitch-slap upside all of our heads. I do not wish this to be so, but I believe it to be so.

For myself, as I stood outside on November 14th in short sleeves and shorts raking autumn leaves in New England and wondering at how incredibly warm it was, I looked up at the clouds racing over head and thought, "Such a beautiful world." I wish more people would do the same. We do not exist apart from our world; we cannot. We are smart animals, spiritual animals, remarkable animals, and while we may be more than mere animals, we are still animals. If we continue to poison our habitat, our future will not be very bright.