IS THERE CAUSE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL OPTIMISM

A Moment on the Earth: The Coming Age of Environmental Optimism by Gre gg Easterbrook, Newsweek and Atlantic Monthly contributing editor has triggered sharp debate on the condition of the environment, U.S. envir onmental policy, and the environmental movement. Easterbrook argues th at the observed condition of the Western world shows human-caused envi ronmental problems are small in scale and moving toward solution. He c riticizes environmentalists and some environmental scientists for prea ching despair in the face of pro found success. The book gives voice t o a growing national movement to ease environmental regulations. Easte rbrook's thesis, which he promoted in talks and in print months before his book appeared in April, was well received by many who heralded it as a needed antidote to the views of environmentalists Indeed the tex t fits well with demands by regulated businesses for a reexamination i f not a rollback of environmental regulations and laws. It also comes at a time when the political influence of environmental organizations is at aa all-time low. National groups have become increasingly estran ged from community activists who have fueled their movement, and now t hey face a hostile Congress, a lukewarm president, and a growing belie f that environmental laws may not always be needed. To examine if East erbrook's environmental optimism is justified, ES&T asked former EPA A dministrator William Reilly, public health researcher and policy advis er Devra Davis, and former New York Times reporter Philip Shabecoff to comment on the book's thesis and how it fits into the broader issue o f whether a turning point in environmental protection has been reached .