Books

The Corporate Assault on Environmentalism
Sharon Beder
Stop reading what I'm writing now and go and read this. OK assuming you've ignored that, this is one of the most important books I have ever read and I can't recommend it highly enough. Sharon Beder outlines how corporations are waging a very conscious war for the public mind against environmentalism, with regard for only themselves. They have resources and media at their control that groups reliant on public donations can only dream about, and when they can't squash the truth with lawsuits, advertising and political meddling, they take on the facade of traditional grassroots activism and make it...
Bob Brown
Bob Brown stood head and shoulders above the leaders of other parties in this country, morally, intellectually and philosophically. I've been lucky enough to meet him very briefly a couple of times, and he has a warmth and sincerity which immediately draws you to him. Memo for a Saner World is a collection of disparite thought, though with a clear call within it for a more understanding and ecologically sound world. Detailing some of Bob Brown's struggles thoughout the years, he has risked his own safety for higher causes, and has had some stunning successes. For those seeking a deeper...
Jeffrey M. Smith
Note: I wrote this review many years ago when genetic modification (GM) was relatively new and the benefits were hard to see for the risk being taken. My thinking has evolved over time as I think most GM crops have been proven to be safe by now, but I don't at all think having a cautious approach to them then was a bad thing. I don't think we should just allow free reign to the biotech companies to release organisms into the wild and am still very much against those with a laissez-faire attitude to laboratory genetic modification. There are...
Tim Flannery
Subtitled "An Ecological History of the Australian Lands and People" this book told me much about the country I was born in that I didn't know. If you are an Australian you should read this book, because it contains many of the things we need to know about our real history, not that concerned only with European people and power. We have stewardship of this land, and we are destroying it because we know nothing about it. This book will get you up to speed on the last few millenia so that you can start creating a better future. Full...