May 11> 1970
The N. C. Essay
Page 3
OGY
The Environmental Handbook
Book Review
by Anthony N. Fragola
ed. by Garrett DeBeli. A Ballantine Book. $.95.
Every day while commuting to
Winston-Salem I witness the destruc
tion of our environment. Near the
airport on 1-40 isolated columns of
fumes hang heavy in the damp air. A
jet streaks in to the runway; its
waste settles, visibly, so that I
cannot ignore its presence.
Then clear vision again for a
few miles. Approaching Winston-
Salem poisonous vapors encircle the
city. Fifth stree exit - descent
into a Dantesque valley where the
smoke produced by man to punish his
lungs for cological sins on this
earth blurs the vision. Sickly-
sweet fumes from Reynolds Tobacco
seep through the closed windows.
Particles of soot settle on my car
from the Negro school forced to burn
cheap grades of fossil fuel - coal
and oil.
Stadium Drive, facing Salem
College — on the steep hill, my
clutch is in. A tractor-trailer
in front of me guns its engine,
throws in its clutch, belches black
poison from its smokestack, groans
and moves its bowels, making me gag.
Later, at the School of the Arts,
which is perched on a hill, I look
down on the city smoldering like a
slag heap. Although partially
removed, I am breathing its fumes,
inhaling air poisoned by motor ve
hicles and industry, and I am
enraged.
"Pollution is a crim com
pounded of ignorance and avarice."
The quote is taken from The
Environmental Handbook^ prepared
for the first National Environmental
Teach-In on April 22. The book is
designed to dispel this cloud of
ignorance and indifference and to
give the reader practical advice on
how to initiate change. The goal of
its contributors is that it be a
useful practical tool for the En
vironmental Teach-In.
I do not believe that
the environmental teach-in
will provide new in
sight or factual know
ledge, but I do hope
that it will help alert
public opinion to
the immediacy of the
ecological crisis.
The teach-in should
point to action pro
grams that can be
developed now in each
particular community.
To make us more knowledgeable the
editor includes essays and selec
tions which give us not only well
documented and researched articles
on waste and pollution, but also in
sights into the historical and theo
logical basis for our current situation.
ytusic F!
Ciy f /7^0 — Crosby3 Stills^ Nash & Young
^ by Mike Ferguson
"I am a child. I'll last awhile, you
can’t conceive of the pleasure in my
smile" - I Am A Child/Neil Young
Deja Vuj the new Lp by Crosby,
Stills Nash & Young, sounds fuller and
richer than the first by C, S & N.
There is an added depth in the music,
a gutty dimension that was lacking.
The reason is Neil Young.
Few artists in American rock,
save Dylan and a few others, have
such a highly personalized approach
to music as does Neil Young. He is
a consumate artist who has spent
much of his twenty-four years
listening to, absorbing, and playing
rock music, until he has molded into
a distinctive and innovative crafts
man. He’s paid his dues.
Young has many qualities: his
quivering, high-pitched vocal style,
jabbing, piercing guitar runs, songs
which penetrate their subject matter
with haunting, introspective images
that reflect experience. Strong
and lean, Canadian, buckskin, firm
Indian (part Cherokee) jaw, deep
eyes that show many moods and feel
ings, vibrations that can be trans
lated only as those of someone at
ease with his world.
Two springs ago, Neil sat quietly
in a small backstage room in Raleigh,
where Buffalo Springfield had just
given what was to be one of their
last concerts. He listened as I
rapped with Stephen Stills, reluc
tant to answer my questions about
Broken Arrow ("It’s about bein’ in a
band, I suppose"). Stills, not
saying that the band was splitting,
but letting me draw my own conclu
sions, thought that the members of
the group would sound surprisingly
similar, should they go off on their
own. Neil smiled at Stephen.
Young came from Canada to join
the Springfield. His friendship
with Stills, despite their different
backgrounds and goals, was warm, if
esoteric. Together, they pushed the
Springfield, Stephen with his
passionate desire, Neil with assured,
affirmative smiles. They made
beautiful music. Glorious American
rock and roll music. Largely un
appreciated music. As in their sen
sitive way, both Neil and Steve found
lack of acceptance a hard thing to
(Con't on page 4)
In an essay by Lynn White, Jr.,
the author claims that Christianity
must bear a hugh burden of guilt for
our environmental destruction, for
Christianity has fostered the
"axion that nature has not reason for
existence save to serve man.'
To
good God fearing fundamentalists and
moderately involved Christians alike,
this idea may seem heretical,
blasphemous, or absurd. But it was
demonstrated in one class that if
viewed in a proper perspective and
with an open mind, this dictum
need not be antithetical to our
religious faiths and biblical teach
ings. It is not Christianity
which is corrupting, but man’s
refusal to accept theories which
might hinder his quest for unlimited
power or nature and matter.
ALL POWER POLLUTES
"All power pollutes," says The
Environmental Handbook..
What can we do? Reduce the
total energy used in this country
by 25 per cent over the next decade,
it responds.
Oh, shock, horror, dismay.
What! Not use electric can openers,
not strive for a totally electric
home, not use the car to drive to
Grimsley or Page a few blocks away,
mingle with the common people on
mass transit systems which could
reduce the number of automobiles
needed. There is already enough
concrete and asphalt to cover the
entire region of New England. De
mand that Detroit produce cars that
get 28 miles a gallon instead of
twelve, sacrifice the comfort of a
luxury of an "escape machine" for a
bug not worth the dignity of my
position? Perhaps Detroit fears
clean air and a healthy environment?
With these natural wonders we might
not feel the urgency to escape.
Exactly, says The Environmental
Handbook^ and more, much more.
A NATION OF PIGS
Signs in New York City implore
the people - let's be a little less
piggy. New York City is a perfect
example of what unlimited consumption
can produce. This is where the problem
lies. How can we get the people to
accept fewer luxuries. America is a
piggy nation. We are soft and fat
and nearly ready for the kill. To
the younger generation and hippies
the policeman is a symbol of the
structure and system of America.
(Most do not hate policemen as people.
For one thing, until they began
demonstrating, most did not have much
contact with a "cop".) Pigs wallow
in mire and thrive on garbage. Per
haps the title of "pig" as a symbol
of the American way of life is more
suitable than we think.
(Con't on page 4)