Wilshire and Nielson's new book is The American West at Risk: Science, Myths, and Politics of Land Abuse and Recovery. These two distinguished scientists have a long history of research in the desert, and the DPC's DesertBlog reports on their address:
With dramatic slides showing a variety of types of destruction, the authors took the audience on a virtual tour of the ways we are degrading the environment, and how this destruction will affect our society’s future. The purpose of their book, they said, is to provide solid evidence to those concerned with these issues, and particularly those engaged in any particular environmental battle. The science behind these problems is clear, they said, as are the solutions, but cultural factors prevent these science-based solutions from being implemented.
The authors laid the causes of these problems at the door of our overly consumptive way of life, and the amount of waste that lifestyle generates. That includes not only excess CO2 that is now heating the planet, but a variety of other waste products from plastics to spent reactor fuel. In fact, our country’s largest product, they said, is waste. Other abuses include lack of protections for water quality, soil losses that threaten both agriculture and water quality, and excessive suburbanization fueled by ever-increasing house sizes (though our economy seems to have brought that kind of expansion to a halt for now!).
DesertBlog writes, "If this sounds like too much gloom and doom, links on the authors’ website point to organizations leading the way into a more sustainable, less consumptive future."
MBCA congratulates the Desert Protective Council on 54 years of success in defending the wild desert and their continuing important work.
