Conservative Conservationist: Russell E. Train and the Emergence of American Environmentalism
- ISBN-10
- 0807148253
- ISBN-13
- 9780807148259
- Category
- Science
- Pages
- 312
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2006-09-01
- Publisher
- LSU Press
- Author
- J. Brooks Flippen
Description
In the history of American environmentalism, Russell E. Train plays a starring role. Few individuals have been so influential in creating the United States' environmental policies and encouraging conservation efforts around the world. In this absorbing new biography, J. Brooks Flippen describes Train's significance within the fascinating history of the contemporary environmental movement. A lifelong Republican, Train left a successful judicial career to found the African Wildlife Leadership Foundation. As the problems of pollution and unrestrained growth became apparent, he adopted a more ecological approach to nature and became a leader of the emerging environmental movement of the 1960s. He soon headed the Conservation Foundation, one of the first organizations to appreciate that humans represent only one strand in the "web of life." President Richard Nixon appointed Train as the initial chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality just as the country celebrated its first Earth Day. There he helped craft the most important environmental legislation in U.S. history. After three years, he became administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, enforcing regulations during the Energy Crisis and much of the troubled 1970s. With the election of Democrat Jimmy Carter, Train returned to the private sector as head of the American affiliate of the World Wildlife Fund. He found himself increasingly at odds with many Republicans as a new, more ideological brand of conservatism grew and bipartisanship faded. Train's Republican credentials and environmental advocacy made him a vestige of the past and, in a sense, a hope for the future. Given complete access to the personal papers and recollections of Russell Train, Flippen casts an unbiased eye on this remarkable man and the causes he has so fervently promoted. Of a prominent Washington family, Train has known every president from Herbert Hoover to George W. Bush. His life and career illustrate the political dynamics of modern environmentalism and illuminate the insider culture of Washington, D.C.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2006-09-01
- 312 pages
- Paperback
- LSU Press
Similar books
-
The Disfiguration of Nature: Why Caring for the Environment is Inherently Conservative
By James G. KruegerIn 1916, Margaret Sanger, a feminist of her own time who demonstrates a rather different approach than that of her forerunner Anthony, founded Planned Parenthood. Sanger, along with the institution that continues to carry on her work, ...
-
A Conservative Environmentalist: The Life and Career of Frank Masland Jr.
By Thomas G. SmithThis eye-opening biography charts Masland's life work, telling the story of how he and fellow Republicans worked with Democrats to expand the national park system, preserve wild country, and protect the environment.
-
Hard Green: Saving The Environment From The Environmentalists: A Conservative Manifesto
By Peter W HuberThis book sets out the case for Hard Green, a conservative environmental agenda. Modern environmentalism, Peter Huber argues, destroys the environment.
-
Green Republican: John Saylor and the Preservation of America's Wilderness
By Thomas Gary SmithRepublican Robert J. Corbett of Pittsburgh portrayed him as a nature-loving obstructionist. The Allegheny Valley, Corbett boasted, was becoming the world's industrial heartland, and its businesses would pay in taxes ten times the cost ...
-
A Contract with the Earth
By Newt Gingrich, Terry MapleAn emerging “ theory ” of climate change first predicted more hurricanes for the state of Florida but warming is now associated with fewer hurricanes ( Kaye , 2008 ) . Similarly , diminished snow on Mt. Kilimanjaro was first attributed ...
-
Jimmy Carter, the Politics of Family, and the Rise of the Religious Right
By J. Brooks FlippenIn the words of biographer Michael Richardson, Bright quickly “included an indictment of abortion as sin in almost every public remark.” His sermons also increasingly spoke ill of homosexuality and feminism, not to mention Hollywood ...
-
Saving The Planet A Conservative's Guide
By Robert Andrew CoteIn Saving the Planet; A Conservatives Guide, Robert Cote points out that some of the leading environmental advocates in American history were conservative politicians - from Lincoln to George H.W. Bush.
-
A Conservationist Manifesto
By Scott Russell SandersA Conservationist Manifesto shows the crucial relevance of a conservation ethic at a time of mounting concern about global climate change, depletion of natural resources, extinction of species, and the economic inequities between rich and ...
-
Speaker Jim Wright: Power, Scandal, and the Birth of Modern Politics
By J. Brooks FlippenTo understand Jim Wright in all his complexity is to understand the story of modern American politics.
-
Getting to Green: Saving Nature
By Frederic C. Rich“Regardless of your place on the political spectrum, there is much to admire in this book, which reminds us that the stewardship of nature is an obligation shared by all Americans.” —U.S. Senator Angus S. King Jr. The Green movement ...