THE POLITICS OF POLLUTION.

By J. Clarence Davies Ill '59 New York: Pegasus (Western Publishing Company, Inc.),1970. 231 pp. $6.00.

"Everyone opposes pollution, yet we find pollution everywhere." With these opening lines, J. Clarence Davies' The Politics ofPollution highlights the complexity of our current environmental challenge and also raises the haunting question of how we have managed to back ourselves into such a paradoxical predicament.

For one thing we appear to have become so overwhelmed by a flood of social crises (Vietnam, the breakdown of the cities, the quest for racial equality, inflation, campus turmoil, the generation gap, the women's liberation movement, and you-name-the-next-one) that we have tended to leapfrog too lightly over each of these difficult problems in the hope that somehow they would magically disappear if only we could rush quickly enough into the next area of social preoccupation, If we are ever to resolve any of these pyramiding issues of social concern, we must first attempt to develop a more intelligent awareness of the problems at hand. In this respect, Davies' book is admirably well-suited to provide an in-depth understanding of the public policy issues growing out of our current environ- mental challenge.

Among the book's many strong points, two are of special significance. First, we can hopefully learn from our past practices. Davies presents an extremely thorough analysis of previous attempts to formulate environmental policy, particularly at the federal level, but also within a broader historical context (e.g. "In 1273 Edward I banned the burning of sea coal in London and in 1388 Richard II forbade river pollution"!) Second, Davies studiously avoids simplistic "instant solution" approaches in an effort to convey the complexity of our current ecological challenge. He even goes so far as to discuss the difficulty of accurately defining "pollution" by questioning the reality of "pure" air and water (a point which has led to criticism by some reviewers, but which I feel is well taken).

Davies reveals that almost all previous public opinion studies have indicated a significant gap between "those who were very concerned about pollution and those who had done anything about their concern." An obvious missing link between these two groups are those who know enough to do anything constructive about their concern. This study is really directed to this latter group and it deserves a wide audience among all who have a genuine interest in helping to resolve the difficult questions of environmental policy we are destined to face in the years ahead.

Mr. Smallwood is Professor of Governmentand Associate Dean, Dartmouth College.