The Eco Barons: The Dreamers, Schemers, and Millionaires Who Are Saving Our Planet

I read it in a day. Loved this book. Excellent writer and, as he says in interview with Booklist, sustainability is The Story of Our Time. Even though we've ditched the Bush era insanity in the government re environment, we really haven't made the kind of progress we need to - the kind of common sense that most of the examples in this book show. I wish the author had gone more into the examples of Sweden's Natural Step, but this is a book I'd like to write. For video examples and more info about Green Plans, see Huey Johnson's nonprofit [...]. You can also read his book. Green Plans, Revised Ed: Blueprint for a Sustainable Earth (Our Sustainable Future) I made the videos on his web site. Huey won the top prize for environmentalism from the UN in 2001 for his Green Plans movement building and evangelizing. We need a hundred more books like Eco Barons (which is not the best title this book could have had but oh well....it's a good book!)

From Pulitzer Prize winner Edward Humes comes Eco Barons, the story of the remarkable visionaries who have quietly dedicated their lives and their fortunes to saving the planet from ecological destruction.

While many people remain paralyzed by the scope of Earth's environmental woes, eco barons—a new and largely unheralded generation of Rockefellers and Carnegies—are having spectacular success saving forests and wildlands, pulling endangered species back from the brink, and pioneering the clean and green technologies needed if life and civilization are to endure.

A groundbreaking account that is both revealing and inspiring, Eco Barons tells of the former fashion magnate and founder of Esprit who has saved more rainforests than any other person and of the college professor who patented the car that can save the world, the plug-in hybrid. There are the impoverished owl wranglers who founded the nation's most effective environmental group and forced a reluctant President George W. Bush to admit that humans cause global warming. And there is the former pool cleaner to Hollywood stars who became the guiding force behind a worldwide effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

At a time when there is no shortage of dire news about the environment, Eco Barons offers a story of hope, redemption, and promise—proof that one person with determination and vision can make a difference.

Publishers Weekly

Pulitzer Prize-winner Humes (Mississippi Mud) profiles a band of idealistic environmentalists devoting their lives and fortunes to protecting nature, including such tycoons as Doug Thompson, the founder of fashion house Esprit, who now spends his millions buying up thousands of acres of land to create nature preserves, and Roxanne Quimby, creator of the cosmetics giant Burt's Bees, who is purchasing huge tracts of forests in Maine woods to trump the real estate investor's visions of resorts, golf courses and suburban homes on clear-cut lands. But other barons are more David than Goliath. The Center for Biological Diversity, a cash-strapped nonprofit founded by an owl expert, scientist and mystic and a former engineering student turned philosopher, is responsible for the recent campaign to fight climate change by protecting the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act. Engineering professor Andy Frank has spent 20 years battling a recalcitrant [auto] industry and confused policy makers to produce an affordable, plug-in hybrid car. Readers concerned with conservation will appreciate this optimistic if starry-eyed introduction to these little-known giants of the environmental movement. (Mar.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Pulitzer Prize winner Edward Humes comes Eco Barons, the story of the remarkable visionaries who have quietly dedicated their lives and their fortunes to saving the planet from ecological destruction.While many people remain paralyzed by the scope of Earth's environmental woes, eco barons — a new and largely unheralded generation of Rockefellers and Carnegies — are having spectacular success saving forests and wildlands, pulling endangered species back from the brink, and pioneering the clean and green technologies needed if life and civilization are to endure.A groundbreaking account that is both revealing and inspiring, Eco Barons tells of the former fashion magnate and founder of Esprit who has saved more rainforests than any other person and of the college professor who patented the "car that can save the world," the plug-in hybrid. There are the impoverished owl wranglers who founded the nation's most effective environmental group and forced a reluctant President George W. Bush to admit that humans cause global warming. And there is the former pool cleaner to Hollywood stars who became the guiding force behind a worldwide effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.At a time when there is no shortage of dire news about the environment, Eco Barons offers a story of hope, redemption, and promise — proof that one person with determination and vision can make a difference. The story of the remarkable visionaries who have quietly dedicated their lives and their fortunes to saving the planet from ecological destruction. While many people remain paralyzed by the scope of Earth's environmental woes, eco barons--a new and largely unheralded generation of Rockefellers and Carnegies--are having spectacular success saving forests and wildlands, pulling endangered species back from the brink, and pioneering the clean and green technologies needed if life and civilization are to endure. Journalist Humes tells of the former fashion magnate who has saved more rainforests than any other person, the college professor who patented the plug-in hybrid car, the impoverished owl wranglers who founded the nation's most effective environmental group, and the former Hollywood pool cleaner who became the guiding force behind a worldwide effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This book proves that one person with determination and vision can make a difference.--From publisher description. Well written and compelling, Eco Barons gives the reader a first glimpse of the activists, philanthropists and gadflies who may well turn out to be the J.D. Rockefellers and Rachel Carsons of our time. Cleveland Plain Dealer Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward Humes offers readers an eye-opening look at the remarkable philanthropists and visionaries who are devoting their lives to saving the earth from overdevelopment and destruction. In Eco Barons, Humes, the bestselling author of Mississippi Mud and Monkey Girl, gives us fascinating portraits of extraordinary men and women who are dedicated to humankinds survivalas important a contribution to the environmental cause as Al Gores An Inconvenient Truth. As the New York Times points out, Humess urgent message is We must all strive to become eco barons in our own right if we are to save Planet Earth. Describes the steps being taken by the current generation of philanthropists and conservationists who have dedicated themselves to the environment, from Doug and Kristine Tompkins's preservation of the South American rainforest to Roxanne Quimby's Burt's Bees company.