Late Environmentalist Barry Commoner On How Biology-Based Tech Could Save The Planet
Municipal landfill in Falmouth, Mass. twoblueday via flickrFrom the archives: The "Paul Revere of ecology" sounded early warnings about the polluting effects of manmade products in 1972. Barry Commoner, the scientist-activist who founded modern ecology and helped ban above-ground nuclear testing, died Sunday in Manhattan, at the age of 95. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Commoner was a leading figure of the environmental movement and a champion of the idea that everything--from pollution to war to social inequalities--was connected to everything else. Time magazine put Commoner on its cover in February 1972, calling him the "Paul Revere of ecology." A few months later, Popular Science ran an article by Commoner that described how manmade products, including plastics, synthetic fibers, and pesticides, had upset the balance of nature. He argued that better, biologically sound technology, such as a national sewage-treatment system incorporating soil, could set things right. Read on for an...