A Force for Nature: The Story of NRDC and The Fight to Save Our Planet - Hardcover

Adams, John H.; Adams, Patricia

3.84

38 ratings by Goodreads

9780811865357: A Force for Nature: The Story of NRDC and The Fight to Save Our Planet

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0811865355 ISBN 13: 9780811865357

Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2010

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The world's preeminent environmental organization began with a layer of soot on the windowsill of a Greenwich Village apartment. Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) founder John H. Adams, a pioneer of environmental action, was working as a lawyer for the U.S. Attorney's office when he and fellow lawyers teamed up to form a grassroots environmental advocacy group. Since 1970, NRDC has grown into an international powerhouse with 1.2 million members and a staff of scientists and lawyers whose mission is to safeguard the planet. This inspiring memoir tells the story of the NRDC and the environmental movement it sparked.

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About the Author:

John H. Adams was NRDC's executive director and, later, president from 1970 until 2006. He served on President Clinton's Council for Sustainable Development, and sits on the boards of numerous environmental organizations, including NRDC. He lives in New York.

Patricia Adams is a long-time supporter of NRDC and a steering committee member of NRDC's Partnership for the Earth campaign.

From Booklist:

*Starred Review* Forty years ago, John Adams, an ardent litigator, joined forces with a band of innovative Yale law students, including the now-renowned environmentalist James Gustave Speth, to create the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a “public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the environment.” Setting a course for “responsible militancy,” Adams took the helm, and while the rest should be history, the full and remarkably instructive story of the NRDC’s ingenuity, perseverance, and landmark triumphs has not previously been told. Assisted by coauthors Patricia Adams and George Black, editor of OnEarth, John Adams energetically pilots a page-turning insider’s chronicle of the groundbreaking watchdog group’s key battles, bold moves, and hard lessons. Early on, the NRDC discovered just how effective governmental regulation can be as it fought “with law and science” to defend diverse communities and ecosystems against chemical pollution, strip-mining, clear-cutting, nuclear waste, misuse of public lands, coastal oil drilling, and other threats. Generously supported by influential philanthropists, including Robert Redford, who provides the book’s foreword, the indefatigable, consensus-seeking NRDC relies on one crucial natural resource, the voice of the public, to support its ambitious global efforts to preserve “clean air, clean water, wild places, wild creatures.” Invaluable firsthand environmental history and a blueprint for future conservation efforts. --Donna Seaman

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