Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

M. Mihkel Mathiesen's book is a much needed, albeit not exhaustive, review of the leading environmental issues of the past forty years. It presents a sad legacy of irrationalism, lies and fanaticism triumphing over truth. He begins with the DDT ban and works his way through acid rain, the asbestos ban, the ozone hole and, finally, to global warming. In each case he points out the distortion and, on the part of government officials, withholding of scientific evidence, which refutes the claims of the environmentalists. I was especially surprised concerning the events and lack of scientific information on the part of Joseph Califano, William Reilly and the Environmental Protection Agency concerning the asbestos ban. I was unaware that there are three different types of asbestos and that 95% ever used is the harmless form, chrysolite or white asbestos. Typically with environmental issues, the news media, our much vaunted "Fourth Estate," failed in its duty to "inform the public" concerning this issue. Fear and panic sold much better than truth. The most extensive chapter is "Catastrophic Global Warming." Mr. Mathiesen presents the history and scientific findings on both sides of the issue. However, in the end, the environmentalist side comes up wanting. I have several criticisms of the work. There is no table of contents or index and I would like to see more references. The forcefulness of the Introduction may put off all but the converted. Despite this, Mr. Mathiesen's book is an important and welcome addition. The points raised by this book deserve clear, honest, rational answers. It is too bad that our politicians and news media have for so long ignored the issues raised here by Mathiesen. I recommend this work for anyone interested in clarity and truth in environmental issues.