Barry Commoner – Father of Modern Ecology and Planet Earth’s Lifeguard

When I was in college in 1985, one of the first books I read that turned me on to ecology and environmental studies was Barry Commoner’s book The Closing Circle. In the book, Commoner outlined the four laws of ecology.

1. Everything is Connected to Everything Else. There is one ecosphere for all living organisms and what affects one, affects all.
2. Everything Must Go Somewhere. There is no “waste” in nature and there is no “away” to which things can be thrown.
3. Nature Knows Best. Humankind has fashioned technology to improve upon nature, but such change in a natural system is likely to be detrimental to that system.
4. There Is No Such Thing as a Free Lunch. Exploitation of nature will inevitably involve the conversion of resources from useful to useless forms.

He was one of the first to advocate recycling and organic farming. He sounded the alarm on the greenhouse effect and the dangers of radioactive fallout. In today’s (October 2nd) New York Times obituary, he is called the father of modern ecology and planet earth’s lifeguard, an appropriate tribute.

Below are a couple of interviews with Commoner and a piece by Andrew Revkin. Measured, passionate and hopeful, Barry Commoner was truly one of America’s greatest environmentalists.

Read Andrew Revkin’s commentary in honor of Commoner’s passing.

New York Times 2006 Interview “The Last Word”

A brief 1973 interview with William Buckley:

by Pat Byington, editor of The Green Register