
On the Brink
The Great Lakes in the 21st Century
Dave Dempsey(Author)
Michigan State University Press
Published on 30. April 2004
Book
Paperback/Softback
325 pages
978-0-87013-705-1 (ISBN)
Description
As one of the world's great natural treasures, the Great Lakes have also served in recent decades as an early warning system for many emerging environmental problems. In the early twenty-first century, as the Lakes face unprecedented challenges, we need to revisit both the wonder of the Lakes and the perils plaguing them, and to take action to protect this majestic ecosystem.
Dave Dempsey weaves the natural character and phenomena of the Great Lakes and stories of the schemes, calamities, and unusual human residents of the Basin with the history of their environmental exploitation and recovery. Contrasting the incomparable beauty and complexity of the Lakes, and the poetry, folklore, and citizen action they have inspired, with the disasters that short-sighted human folly has inflicted on the ecosystem, Dempsey makes this history both engaging and relevant to today's debates and decisions.
Underlying the neglectful treatment of the Lakes are two irreconcilable and faulty human assumptions: that the Lakes are a system so big that human beings cannot do great harm to it, and that the Lakes are a resource that can be bent to the will of humankind. Dempsey finds evidence that, despite great changes in the laws governing the Lakes and public attitudes toward them in the last fifty years, government policy and institutions are still dominated by these dangerous attitudes.
A central theme of On the Brink is that citizens, who have displayed an increasing sense of commitment to the Lakes and a growing sense of place, must challenge their leaders to reform Great Lakes institutions. While everything from large-scale water exports to global climate change looms in the future of the Lakes, single-purpose solutions do not suffice-no more than a Band- aid would on a gaping wound. Dempsey shows that it is necessary to create a governing system that reflects the realities of life "on the ground" in communities and that taps into the passion and determination of citizens to protect these treasures.
Dave Dempsey weaves the natural character and phenomena of the Great Lakes and stories of the schemes, calamities, and unusual human residents of the Basin with the history of their environmental exploitation and recovery. Contrasting the incomparable beauty and complexity of the Lakes, and the poetry, folklore, and citizen action they have inspired, with the disasters that short-sighted human folly has inflicted on the ecosystem, Dempsey makes this history both engaging and relevant to today's debates and decisions.
Underlying the neglectful treatment of the Lakes are two irreconcilable and faulty human assumptions: that the Lakes are a system so big that human beings cannot do great harm to it, and that the Lakes are a resource that can be bent to the will of humankind. Dempsey finds evidence that, despite great changes in the laws governing the Lakes and public attitudes toward them in the last fifty years, government policy and institutions are still dominated by these dangerous attitudes.
A central theme of On the Brink is that citizens, who have displayed an increasing sense of commitment to the Lakes and a growing sense of place, must challenge their leaders to reform Great Lakes institutions. While everything from large-scale water exports to global climate change looms in the future of the Lakes, single-purpose solutions do not suffice-no more than a Band- aid would on a gaping wound. Dempsey shows that it is necessary to create a governing system that reflects the realities of life "on the ground" in communities and that taps into the passion and determination of citizens to protect these treasures.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
East Lansing, MI
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 231 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
481 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-87013-705-1 (9780870137051)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Dave Dempsey is the author and coauthor of eight nonfiction books and was named Michigan Author of the Year by the Michigan Library Association and the Michigan Center for the Book in 2009.
Content
ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPrologue: A Day at the ShoreChapter 1. Dreams of Wealth and GloryChapter 2. Failing the FishChapter 3. Protecting a New HomeChapter 4. DegradationChapter 5. IndignationChapter 6. Manipulating the LakesChapter 7. The ComebackChapter 8. Losing the Lakes?Chapter 9. A Future in PerilChapter 10. Hope for HomeNotesIndex
Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication: Lake ecology Great Lakes, Great Lakes Environmental conditions
Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication: Lake ecology Great Lakes, Great Lakes Environmental conditions