A CONTRACT WITH THE EARTH
By Newt Gingrich and Terry L. Maple

Reviewed by Bob Sanchez

The title echoes the Republican party’s “contract with America” of the 1994 congressional election, but the content contains little of that partisan freight. Instead, this slim volume attempts a balanced approach to protecting and restoring the world's environment.

What can America—as a nation and as individuals—do to preserve the environment? The authors bring their respective backgrounds to bear on the question; Dr. Terry Maple runs the Palm Beach Zoo in Florida, while Newt Gingrich taught environmental studies before his days representing Georgia's 6th congressional district. This gives many of their observations and examples a Southeast orientation without invalidating the underlying points. Only occasionally do their examples grate, as with the reference to polar bears as the “beloved icons of Coca-Cola television commercials.” Oh, please. How sappy.

In clear, readable prose, authors Gingrich and Maple focus on what America should do right now to address the world's environmental problems. They fault the dearth of national leadership on environmental issues and argue the need to address those issues in the 2008 election. Both parties, they write, are guilty; this is not a Republican attack on Democrats.

But 2008 is not our one and only chance to save the world’s environment. The time is always now, and that's when we should deal forcefully with the issues the authors raise. Still, this manifesto might become a perennial seller if it had fewer references to 2008. The next election will come and go, but the Earth's health will remain an issue long after most of the current candidates have been forgotten. The next President will certainly not solve all the issues the book raises.

The authors’ point is that a “healthy Earth is defined, in part, by abundant and healthy populations of wildlife.” To that end, high-profile animals such as pandas and polar bears increase public awareness about the changing environment; from them, the benefits trickle down to all of nature. (We tried a trickle-down economy, so why not try a trickle-down environment?)

The first chapter outlines the ten commitments of the proposed Contract with the Earth, which come across as an America-centric call to arms: “Mentor a New Generation of Environmental Entrepreneurs” is commitment number two, asking us to “reject the notion that free enterprise and environmentalism are opposing forces.” There is money to be made in conservation, they write, and a high price to be paid for ignoring “the warning signs of our troubled planet...Government and industry can act decisively when there is a demonstrated need.”

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