Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit

by Al Gore

Re-released on the heels of Al Gores #1 New York Times bestseller, An Inconvenient Truth, comes the paperback edition of his classic bestseller, Earth in the Balance. First published in 1992, it helped place the environment on the national agenda; now, as environmental issues move front-and-center in the public consciousness, the time is right to reflect deeply on the fate of our planet and commit ourselves to its future. While An Inconvenient Truth closely examines one menace to our environmentglobal warmingEarth in the Balance takes a broader approach, focusing on the threats that everyday choices pose to our climate, water, soil, and diversity of plant and animal life. A passionate, lifelong defender of the environment, Gore describesin brave and unforgettable termshow human actions and decisions can endanger or safeguard the vulnerable ecosystem that sustains us.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Environment, Politics, Sustainability, Ecology, Nature

407 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Albert Gore, Junior, known as Al, served earlier as a United States senator from Tennessee from 1985 to 1993 and as vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under William Jefferson Clinton and shared the Nobel Prize of 2007 for peace for his efforts to raise awareness about global warming.

This forty-fifth vice president also served in the House of Representatives of the United States from 1977 to 1985. Gore, the Democratic nominee for president in the election of 2000, ultimately lost to the Republican candidate George Walker Bush in spite of winning the popular vote. The Supreme Court eventually settled a legal controversy over the election recount of Florida in favor of Bush.

People awarded this prominent environmental activist together with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for the "efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."

He also starred in the Academy Award–winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, on the topic of global warming. Gore helped to organize the Live Earth benefit concert for global warming on 7 July 2007.

Gore is currently chairman of the Emmy Award–winning American television channel Current TV, chairman of Generation Investment Management, a director on the board of Apple Inc., an unofficial advisor to Google's senior management, chairman of the Alliance for Climate Protection, and a partner in the venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, heading that firm's climate change solutions group.

Reviews

[Kinga · Rating 1 out of 5]

“We learned, for example, that in some areas of Poland, children are regularly taken underground into deep mines to gain some respite from the buildup of gases and pollution of all sorts in the air. One can almost imagine their teachers emerging tentatively from the mine, carrying canaries to warn the children when it’s no longer safe for them to stay above the ground.”

This is an actual quote. From a book. Written by a Nobel Prize Winner.

It came out around the time I lived in the US on my one year cultural exchange program. I was bored to death and entertained myself with inventing crazy stories about Poland and feeding them to gullible American teenagers who went to school with me.

I told them that although the shops in Poland are open all week, you can only buy things on Mondays. It's a part of government program against poverty and it stops people from buying too much shit they don't need.

Also told them we keep lots of farm animals in our flats and houses even in cities because their body heat keeps us warm at night. The government provides one cow-radiator for a family but if you have some money you are sure to buy a sheep or two to supplement that. Especially in winter.

So when Al Gore says 'we learned' I think he means he had an exchange student from Poland in his school.

[Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gore deserves some serious credit for writing this book in 1992, before it was in vogue to care about the environment. And though things are now worse than when this was written, this book still seemed valuable to me. I have, of course, seen An Inconvient Truth (some bits of which are taken from Earth in the Balance), but this book helped give me a fuller understanding of Gore's thoughts on the environmental crisis.

The first section--"Balance at Risk"--is the strongest. Here is where Gore lays out the major problems humanity is facing. Global warming and ozone depletion are at the top of the list, along with deforestation. The next section, entitled "The Search for Balance" too often wades into quasi-mysticism, but does make the legitimate point that in order to start to address the crisis, it would be helpful for people to feel some connection to the earth, beyond the desire to use the resources buried underneath it. The final section "Striking the Balance" calls for making "the rescue of the environment the central organizing principle for civilization." It is true that this is necessary, but Gore doesn't really illuminate the way in which such a change could be achieved. The stated goal would essentially require a wholesale remaking of society; that sort of thing does not just happen--it would require nothing less than the defeat of the most powerful instituions operating in the world--our corporate masters and the political and ideological structures that uphold them.

In fact, what makes the book bittersweet, is that Gore does truly seem to be passionate about this cause. I don't doubt his sincerity. But even after 8 years as the vice president of the United States, he managed to accomplish little in terms of serious environmental progress. Not only that, but the public's willingness to endure even a small sacrifice has not increased whatsoever in the decades since Earth in the Balance was originally published. In his 2000 campaign, Gore did nothing to draw attention to environmental problems for fear of being tagged a treehugger (a tag which was nontheless applied to him). And outside of environmentalist circles, public outcry about the Bush administration's awful environmental record is virtually non-existent. And even as I write this, $4 gasoline has prompted the republican party to press to drill for oil on every speck of US land and our coastal areas; evidently, they feel the public is behind them on this issue. If that is true--if we cannot even countenance paying what Europe has paid at the pump for years before we are willing to destroy every last natural place--then I fear that the struggle to maintain a livable planet is already over.

But I've wandered off topic. Earth in the Balance has some excellent pictures. The boats in the middle of the desert (which used to be the Aral Sea) are memorable, as is graphic from which the title of the book is taken--a Bush I era drawing of a scale with the entire earth on one side, and six bars of gold, apparently weighing an equal amount, on the other. If nothing else, Earth in the Balance will serve as a reminder that at least somebody was trying to sound the alarm about environmental catastrophe back when it still seemed possible to avert disaster.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this right after seeing An Inconvenient Truth because I was curious to see what Gore had done in this format, and also to see how his perception of the environment had changed in the years between the two works.

The problem with this book, and the reason I don't recommend it, is that it's short on science and long on spiritual/religious/newage (rhymes with sewage) malarkey. A book on environmentalism should persuade the reader with facts and explanations, and it should let scientists speak (as it were) to the reader as much as possible. But instead of taking that more serious approach, Gore wastes the better part of his book waxing poetic on mankind's God-given duty to shepherd the Earth, and lamenting the loss of the mystical connection that (he believes) our ancestors had with the planet. Reading that fluff, I had to wonder whether Gore really believed it or whether he was trying to appear "spiritually enlightened" for political appeal.

At one point, Gore recalls Reagan's Interior Secretary Watt, who had famously remarked that there was no need to husband the environment because the Second Coming was imminent. Gore claims that Watt was being untrue to scripture, since the "true" faith holds that man's charge is to nurture the planet. Gore doesn't realize that there is no "true" interpretation when it comes to faith, and that that is (one reason) why it's better to stick with science.

[Jimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

How do you get people to grasp the seriousness of this problem?

Al Gore tried. Now Republicans think it is a "partisan issue."

The fact that he wrote this in 1992 is what good citizenship is all about.

There are some offbeat passages in the book that make it interesting. For example, he speaks about dysfunctional families. The result of a long period of dependence on the nurturing parent during infancy and childhood meant that the children of such families "will absorb and integrate the dysfunctional rules and warped assumptions about life being transmitted by the parents." It took great courage for Mr. Gore to say something like that. How else do you explain Trump rallies? And the dysfunctional governments and countries built by such people?

We are disconnected from the natural world. We think of nature as something separate from us. As if we were not animals.

Somehow we need a new "common purpose." But if an existential crisis such as climate change cannot bring people together, what can? It seems hopeless to me, but I plug on.

[Ruxandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could have been such a great book, really. I notice with disappointment several cunning strategies applied in the political world: whereas Gore does justice to the underdeveloped countries (except anything that had to do with the Soviets, they were perceived as the ultimate devils in the 1990s, apparently), he uses these observations in order to support his future political claims, favouring US interventionism as a way of 'educating' and bringing 'democratic values' to other 'dysfunctional civilizations.' I find this rather ignorant, even for 1992. Sorry America, your days as a world leading power are over. Now go ratify those conventions (the rights of the child, Ottawa Treaty, convention on cluster munitions, etc.)

[Pete daPixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super Al wrote this book in the early 1990's when he was in the Senate. Almost ten years before running for President against Bush. That election has cost world ecology a decade!
Gore's 'Earth in the Balance' is a clear warning given to the human race against it's relentless carbon fuelled rape of mother earth. The ecology issues haven't changed since A.G. wrote the book, they're just more urgent now.
He writes of the dysfunctional human spirit that he traces back to the ideas of Rene Descartes and Sir Francis Bacon that have removed the 'connection' with the earth and driven us to our present consumer societies, and our wasteful exploitation of earths resources.
He ends this monster with his proposal for a new 'Marshall Plan' to address third world debt and establish international environmental treaties and co-operation.
Question: What did he achieve when he was Clinton's VP?
Whatever....Gore v Bush. The winner of that election couldn't read a book like this let alone write one.

[Tresuiri · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent piece of work by Mr. Gore. Although I commiserate his electoral loss, I appreciate his taking the opportunity to produce this work. I agree with the cover, an outstanding piece of leadership in our time of need. I have a new found respect for Mr. Gore. It is depressing that since this book was published, progress has not been meted out to meet the need. If you feel that you want or need to address the global environmental imbalance, this is an excellent resource to put it all in context as well as giving insights and examples of what you can do on an individual level. And if you're already there, the book gives examples of next steps of what one can do as well as directions to take the fight. Note that this book is not comprised of case studies, but rather a discourse of Mr. Gore's experience and his personal views. The examples are given as illustrative elaborations of his concepts. I want to give this book five stars, but I can't: I was able to put it down and wait till I had time to finish it later. Nonetheless, I strongly advocate reading this book.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I shudder to think that our destructive habits have worsened since "Earth in Balance's" conception in '92. "Earth in Balance" is laden with emotive stories and facts, proceeded by Gore's proposed solutions. Gore's occasional attempts to harmonize religion and environmentalism both impress and amuse, as it has become apparent during the current conservative presence that we must de-polarize the two to achieve success.

The book is far from brief, which, in all honesty, could turn several desired audiences from reading. A bit of condensing could be beneficial. Gore's movie is a much better "baby step" for hopeful converts, but overall I feel it's an crucial read -- for motivation, responsibility, self-education, and for the imperative action we must take to resolve this environmental dilemma.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Long before AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH became famous, Gore wrote EARTH IN THE BALANCE in 1992, an amazing book with detailed research. He had just turned 40, lost the presidential bid, and his 6 year old son had been hit by a car. Gore worked on the book as he sat by his son's hospital bed. If anyone needs proof as to how brilliant this man is, just read this book. On p. 12 he states:

"In the end, we must restore a balance within ourselves between who we are and what we are doing....The more deeply I search for the roots of the global environmental crisis, the more I am convinced that it is an outward manifestation of the inner crisis that is, for lack of a better word, spiritual."

America may never realize just how brilliant a man Gore is--and how much we lost in 2000.

[Omar · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Having attempted in earlier chapters to understand the crisis from the perspectives offered by the earth sciences, economics, sociology, history, information theory, psychology, philosophy, and religion, I now want to examine, from my vantage point as a politician, what I think can be done about it." (270).

It's a remarkable work of synthesis; at times, Gore overstretches (especially the bit about religion), but I can really appreciate his attempt to make the environment the "organizing principle" of modern society. It's also one of those cases, as happened for me with The Origin of Species, when you realize that so much of what you have learned recently had already been thought about and articulated years ago. At the same time, you get the sense that there is a deep sadness here.

[Charlaralotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was only one class in Environmental Policy when I was Harvard. I took it, and we read this book.

The better story was about the professor. He'd gone to live with a tribe of people in Africa who subsisted entirely on sweet potatoes. Unfortuntately, due to his portly figure, he had to leave the community as he needed too many yams & their supply was suffering.

Also, my final paper was on disposable versus washable diapers. I had an anxiety attack as I had accumulated so much information on the subject that I couldn't make any sense out of the debate. The paper was, uh, a miserable failure.

[Kurt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book provides a great overview of many environmental problems the world has experienced or is currently facing. I was expecting it to be more of a discussion on climate change, but it delved into all kinds of topics that one would pick up in an introductory environmental sciences class. For someone with vary little background in this field, I would highly recommend this book. For those who are already pretty well versed in the topic, the book will seem pretty repetitive with what the reader already knows. From what I can remember from "An Inconvenient Truth", there is a lot of cross-over between that and the book.

[Lynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been a fan of Gore for awhile. I learned the 'inconvenient truth' of what our inaction
has done to the planet. and how clean water will
be scarce worldwide.

[Isabella Schneider · Rating 3 out of 5]

Al Gore provides an insight to how religion, politics and ecology all interconnect with each other. I found the insight from a book published in 1992 accurate in small details when comparing the environmental impacts of today.

Anyone reading this book must take into consideration that some information will be dated.

While I found the format of the book to be good, this is a slow and unengaging read. I needed a break between chapters (often days in between chapters) to let me process what I was reading. The final chapter I found to be the hardest to read due to the length of the chapter. There were times where I felt like some points were repetitive and took focus away from the point of a chapter.

At the end of it all, I felt like Gore emphasized all governments should consider ecology in its policies more to ensure Earth will still be around for many generations to come. Gore does highlight what the U.S. in particular could do to help make an impact from his proposed solutions. As always, policies often consider a lot of factors, and I felt like some of Gore's solutions overlooked other factors to make ecology a priority.

Regardless of what your viewpoint is on ecology and its relationship with politics, you will find it informative.

[Fabienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dieses Buch ist 20 Jahre alt. Und trotzdem wird immer noch über den Klimawandel diskutiert, als wäre dieser ein Hirngespinst. Einfach nur traurig, wie die Personen in Positionen mit Verantwortung das Problem weiter ignorieren, weil immer irgendwas anderes wichtiger ist.
Ich weiß noch, wie ich damals in der Schule den Film zu diesem Buch gesehen habe und hinterher einerseits verängstigt aber auch hoffnungsvoll war. 20 Jahre später hoffe ich einfach, dass ich tot bin bevor unser Planet unbewohnbar wird…
Was das Buch schafft:
- komplizierte Sachverhalte extrem vereinfacht und anschaulich darzustellen. Stellenweise wirkt es sogar etwas zu simpel und repetitiv.
- vermeintlich einfache Antworten und Ansätze für eine Reduzierung des CO2-Ausstoßes liefern, die auch jeden einzelnen in die Verantwortung nimmt. Das finde ich super.
- die Dringlichkeit der Klimakrise bewusst machen.

Leider scheinen die Effekte der Botschaft angesichts der vielen anderen weltweiten Krisen und monetären Interessen der global Player vollkommen verpufft zu sein.

Warum doch gleich wurde Al Gore nicht amerikanischer Präsident? Ach ja…

[Javier Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part scientific education, part philosophical examination of the human soul and spirit, then-Sen. Gore brings his own unique flavor (and language) to the growing crisis which is our force of nature on the earth itself. Through his own personal traumas, to the many traumas the earth has faced with each passing century and with greater and greater millions to provide for, Sen. Gore maintains that a way forward that is both compassionate and economically viable is possible. While we might hear of the Green New Deal (GND), Sen. Gore calls for a Global Marshall Plan, with much of the same important facets and incentives highlighted in each. One hopes that with the passing of time (more than 30 years since its publication in 1992) it's still not too late. Its also highly ironic that Sen. Gore, who may be considered now a Green politician, was purportedly defeated in 2000 by of all things, the Green Party. While I don't believe this to be the case, it is intriguing to hope that Gore's influence in future environmental policy is indeed possible.

[super secret sexy bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a compelling read. Al Gore covers a lot of ground in discussing what was known about carbon emissions up until the time the book was published, and makes a strong case for environmental rights. He goes from discussing consumerism, addiction, and pollution to tying in how all these factors are indicative of an underlying issue. He names this issue as humanity’s toxic relationship with the earth. I would recommend this read. Although the politics that he mentions are outdated, the facts and figures that he cites are still crucial in understanding the climate crisis and its impact on the world today.

[Knox Isham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unbelievable book.

Well written, incredibly researched, reads like a scientist wrote it.

Al Gore breaks down Climate Change in three parts, what it is, how it's happening and how he believes we're responsible for fixing it.

Reading this in 2025 is an interesting look into the past, only about 34 years, much of the problems experienced then are happening now. Some of the solutions he poses are being implemented now too though, electric cars, working from home, decreasing CFC usage.

Fair warning it does read like a textbook and is a bit difficult to digest at points, but well worth the journey.

Thanks Al.

[Allison Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fiiiiiiiiiinally finished this. I've been reading it for over a month. Life has held some big changes in the last few months so I haven't had time to read but I've been chipping away at it recently. This book was so beautiful. Probably the closest book I wood refer to as my bible. It's take on the environment and human spirituality was so lovely. This was written before An Inconvenient Truth and imo is much, much better. This is probably my favorite book I've read concerning environmental issues as well as an introspective look at humanity. I recommend!

[Viorel Mionel · Rating 4 out of 5]

O carte excelenta pentru intelegerea problemelor ecologice ale Terrei. O prelegere privind necesitatea luptei împotriva încălzirii globale, a schimbărilor climatice, defrișărilor, poluării și gazelor cu efect de seră (CO2, freoni, metan ș.a.). Cu toate acestea, exprimarea, dar nu explicarea ideilor, mi s-a părut greoaie și, pe alocuri, repetitivă. Cu toate acestea, Al Gore rămâne un etalon global privind erudiția, ecologia și lupta împotriva schimbarilor climatice.
Spor la lectură!

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes I look at a book and think it’s too late, that if I didn’t read it closer to its release it’s no longer relevant. In this case, listening to 1992 Al Gore was a revelation and the hindsight made the book more meaningful for me. I was ten years old so I saw this period through a child’s eyes but I’ve lived through the intervening years and seen how some of the predictions played out. I also gained new clarity and perspective on Gore and his motivations.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I borrowed this from a library in my ward in Tokyo (they had it!) and was in awe at not just how well written it is, not just that it has solutions and ways for the US to lead, but how it seems to envisage the Global Goals/Millennium Development Goals.

Truly ahead of his time, with accolades from Bill Moyers and Carl Sagan, replete with a 300-book bibliography.

biblio has it on sale, too.

[Andrea Houle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though this is a bit outdated its still very relevant and if anything you know things are worse now than when the book was written. It makes you realize how bad things are and really has you brainstorming ways to make a difference. I think everyone should read this book so everyone can be on the same page. Definately a must read

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read one of the older versions of this book. It was published in the 1990s.

It is still a great book. It would be interesting to compare the book's predictions to what actually happened in the last 30 years. People should have listened to him back then. And we definitely need to listen to him now!

[James Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing, prophetic & illuminating. As a whole, this book illustrates in detail how humans have both negatively affected the global environment while also showing how we can turn the ever growing calamity around if we can all manage to work together.

[Sven Schöbel · Rating 4 out of 5]

even though it has been written in 2006 and politics in US has changed since then in a drastically way, the warnings and findings in this book are still valid. And the hints to do "better" at the end of the book can still encourage each and everyone to do their share to save our planet.

[Maria Valderrama · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's horrifying that this book was written 26 years ago and there are people who still think climate change is fake...

[Henry James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unreadable.

[Daniel Geiger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Climate crisis is happening. We should've listened Al Gore's concerns instead of mocking him. He should've won the election in 2000.