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Environmental Overkill: Whatever Happened to Common Sense?
The author of Trashing the Planet and media commentator Guzzo offer a straightforward analysis that helps readers understand the scientific and political realities of environmental issues and make their own informed decisions about global warming, pollution, endangered species, and other environmental issues.
260 pages, Paperback
First published January 25, 1993
4 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
Dixy Lee Ray
12 books3 followersDixy Lee Ray (September 3, 1914–January 2, 1994) was the 17th Governor of the U.S. State of Washington. She was Washington's first female governor.
She was born Marguerite Ray in Tacoma to Frances Adams Ray and Alvis Marion Ray (a commercial printer). Marguerite was second in a family of five girls. In 1930 she changed her name to "Dixy Lee". She attended Tacoma's Stadium High School, graduated as valedictorian from Mills College in Oakland, California in 1937, and with a master's degree in 1938 with her thesis entitled "A Comparative Study of the Life Habits of Some Species of Burrowing Eumalacostraca". She earned her PhD from Stanford University in Palo Alto. Her doctoral dissertation was "The peripheral nervous system of Lampanyctus leucopsarus," completed in 1945 at the Hopkins Marine Station, Pacific Grove, California.
Academic career
Ray was a marine biologist and taught at the University of Washington from 1947 until 1972. In 1952 she received a prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowship grant for Biology.
From 1963 until 1972, Dr. Ray became the director of Seattle's Pacific Science Center, guiding its future after the founding as part of the 1962 World's Fair. An advocate of nuclear power, she was appointed by Richard Nixon to chair the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in 1973 and was the only woman to serve as chair of the AEC.
In 1975, Dr. Ray was appointed and served as the first Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.
Political career
Ray was elected governor of Washington in 1976 as a Democrat. She quickly astonished her supporters with her strongly conservative views. She was governor when Mount St. Helens started volcanic activity after a 123 year dormant or inactive phase. As volcanic activity increased, the mountain attracted scientists and sightseers. On April 3, 1980, she declared a state of emergency and urged people to stay away from the mountain. This declaration allowed the National Guard to assist State Patrol troopers and sheriffs deputies from Cowlitz County and Skamania County. Ray also issued an executive order that restricted access to extremely dangerous areas of Mount St. Helens and its surrounds. The "red zone" restrictions would be credited by Forest Service respondents to a post-eruption 'Warning and Response Survey' with keeping between 5,000 and 30,000 potential decedents out of the blast area.
In 1980, she lost in the Democratic primary election to then-State Senator Jim McDermott, who went on to lose in the general election to moderate Republican John D. Spellman. Ray left the governor's office in January 1981 when her successor took the Oath of Office.
Death and legacy
Dixie Lee Ray died on January 2, 1994 at Fox Island, Washington.
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) established an award in Dixy Lee Ray's honor for engineering contributions to the field of environmental protection in 1998. The award, which consists of a bronze medal with the governor's likeness and $1000 was first given to Clyde W. Frank in 1999 and has been made annually since.
She co-authored two books critical of the environmentalist movement with Lou Guzzo. Her papers are archived at the Hoover Institution and are catalogued online.
She was born Marguerite Ray in Tacoma to Frances Adams Ray and Alvis Marion Ray (a commercial printer). Marguerite was second in a family of five girls. In 1930 she changed her name to "Dixy Lee". She attended Tacoma's Stadium High School, graduated as valedictorian from Mills College in Oakland, California in 1937, and with a master's degree in 1938 with her thesis entitled "A Comparative Study of the Life Habits of Some Species of Burrowing Eumalacostraca". She earned her PhD from Stanford University in Palo Alto. Her doctoral dissertation was "The peripheral nervous system of Lampanyctus leucopsarus," completed in 1945 at the Hopkins Marine Station, Pacific Grove, California.
Academic career
Ray was a marine biologist and taught at the University of Washington from 1947 until 1972. In 1952 she received a prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowship grant for Biology.
From 1963 until 1972, Dr. Ray became the director of Seattle's Pacific Science Center, guiding its future after the founding as part of the 1962 World's Fair. An advocate of nuclear power, she was appointed by Richard Nixon to chair the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in 1973 and was the only woman to serve as chair of the AEC.
In 1975, Dr. Ray was appointed and served as the first Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.
Political career
Ray was elected governor of Washington in 1976 as a Democrat. She quickly astonished her supporters with her strongly conservative views. She was governor when Mount St. Helens started volcanic activity after a 123 year dormant or inactive phase. As volcanic activity increased, the mountain attracted scientists and sightseers. On April 3, 1980, she declared a state of emergency and urged people to stay away from the mountain. This declaration allowed the National Guard to assist State Patrol troopers and sheriffs deputies from Cowlitz County and Skamania County. Ray also issued an executive order that restricted access to extremely dangerous areas of Mount St. Helens and its surrounds. The "red zone" restrictions would be credited by Forest Service respondents to a post-eruption 'Warning and Response Survey' with keeping between 5,000 and 30,000 potential decedents out of the blast area.
In 1980, she lost in the Democratic primary election to then-State Senator Jim McDermott, who went on to lose in the general election to moderate Republican John D. Spellman. Ray left the governor's office in January 1981 when her successor took the Oath of Office.
Death and legacy
Dixie Lee Ray died on January 2, 1994 at Fox Island, Washington.
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) established an award in Dixy Lee Ray's honor for engineering contributions to the field of environmental protection in 1998. The award, which consists of a bronze medal with the governor's likeness and $1000 was first given to Clyde W. Frank in 1999 and has been made annually since.
She co-authored two books critical of the environmentalist movement with Lou Guzzo. Her papers are archived at the Hoover Institution and are catalogued online.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 27, 2008
Sheer conservative ideology... reading this book in current times makes for good laughs. They believe the issue of ozone depletion from CFCs was played up, that climate change was a debunkable art, and that much of the alarmism from environmentalists is sheer nonsense. Funny how Ray is a faculty member at Washington University's biology department...
I made it about 70 pages into the text - I gave them a chance and now I can't take back the time I lost doing so.
I made it about 70 pages into the text - I gave them a chance and now I can't take back the time I lost doing so.
March 4, 2017
This book brings to light a number of environmental and media topics compelling one to think analytically for the truth. While listening to this book I realized there is so much more to learn about the environment and regulations. The cases presented are thought provoking and quite interesting to reflect back on one's feelings and what the author is presenting. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will look for others on the environment and maintain a more critical posture to reported facts.
November 18, 2016
Thoughtfully presented information that is well cited. Not sure I agree with every conclusion, but the author considered data on a cost vs benefit scale rather than an emotional scale. The copy I read was copyrighted in the early/mid 90s, so I'd be interested in an updated version if such exist.
Want to read
December 30, 2009This is the ONLY anti-environmentally active book I own. I figured, just to be in good faith, I should own at least one book that talks about the other side of the spectrum (ie. no such thing as global warming, who cares about recycling, etc...). Needless to say, I still haven't read it.
April 7, 2010
Yes, what ever happened to the concept of a simple life?
September 15, 2013
Refer to my description of "Eco-scam" by Ronald Bailey.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews