A Plan for Preserving Civilization

Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble. Lester R. Brown. xii + 365 pp. W. W. Norton, 2006. $16.96.

In his 1948 book, Our Plundered Planet, Fairfield Osborn warned that our exploitation of the Earth was threatening our very survival. Urging recognition of "the necessity of cooperating with nature," he said that if civilization is to continue, humankind "must temper [its] demands and use and conserve the living resources of this earth." In 1987, the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development, in a report titled Our Common Future, called for a "new charter" setting out the rights and responsibilities of citizens and the state with regard to the environment and development. This challenge led eventually to "The Earth Charter" (available online at http://www.earthcharter.org/files/charter/charter.pdf), which was approved by the commission in 2000. "The choice is ours," declares the charter: "form a global partnership to care for Earth and one another or risk the destruction of ourselves and the diversity of life. Fundamental changes are needed in our values, institutions, and ways of living."

( Full story here )