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In this compelling study, Rena Steinzor highlights the ways in which the government, over the past twenty years, has failed to protect children from harm caused by toxic chemicals. She believes these failures—under-funding, excessive and misguided use of cost/benefit analysis, distortion of science, and devolution of regulatory authority—have produced a situation in which harm that could be reduced or eliminated instead persists.

Steinzor states that, as a society, we are neglecting our children's health to an extent that we would find unthinkable as individual parents, primarily due to the erosion of the government's role in protecting public health and the environment. At this pace, she asserts, our children will inherit a planet under grave threat. We can arrest these developments if a critical mass of Americans become convinced that these problems are urgent and the solutions are near at hand.

By focusing on three specific case studies—mercury contamination through the human food chain, perchlorate (rocket fuel) in drinking water, and the effects of ozone (smog) on children playing outdoors—Steinzor creates an analysis grounded in law, economics, and science to prove her assertions about the existing dysfunctional system.

Steinzor then recommends a concise and realistic series of reforms that could reverse these detrimental trends and serve as a blueprint for restoring effective governmental intervention. She argues that these recommendations offer enough material to guide government officials and advocacy groups toward prompt implementation, for the sake of America's—and the world's—future generations.

Average Customer Rating:

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Customer Rating:

With "Mother Earth and Uncle Sam," Rena Steinzor has done a great service - she's produced a very readable portrait of the state of environmental regulation in the US today. It is an excellent text for an introductory graduate or undergraduate course in environmental health policy, but don't let that scare you off. "Mother Earth and Uncle Sam" is a great read for anyone who is wondering about how we protect (and right now, how we don't protect) our health and environment.

Worth a look.

Customer Rating:

I have not read this book, but I am interested in it due to the following review in The Non-Toxic Times, put out by Seventh Generation. Required Reading: Fixing the Toxic Failures of Government At its heart, The Non-Toxic Times has always been about exposing the failures of industry and government to put protecting people ahead of profits and showing you, dear reader, how the situation can be fixed. So it's fitting that we tell you about a must-read new book that shows us how and why lax regulations have created a hazard-filled world for our kids, and what we can do about it. Mother Earth and Uncle Sam: How Pollution and Hollow Government Hurt Our Kids by Rena I. Steinzor, University of Texas Press, 2007 is a look at the myriad ways that federal government agencies and regulations have utterly failed to protect public health from toxic hazards for the last two decades and created a situation in which simply being alive is dangerous to our children's health. Here's a toxic tale of woefully under-funded programs, a cold-hearted over-reliance on bean-counting cost-benefit analyses, distorted science and other truth-twisting, special interests run amok, gutted regulatory authorities, and a corporate-controlled commons that trades profits for safety to create a country in which clear and present toxic threats that could be contained or eliminated have instead been allowed to grow. Author Steinzor examines these and other critical issues through the stories of three toxins that today abound: mercury in our food, perchlorate in our water, and ozone in our air. But these contaminants could be any at all because the stories Steinzor recounts are always the same no matter what toxin we're talking about: a hollow government and ineffective or hamstrung regulators pay lip service to the idea of protecting the public while behind the scenes powerful well-moneyed forces work to preserve the status quo at all costs, no mater how high these costs climb. In her prologue, Steinzor writes: "Five ideas are at the heart of this book. First, we are neglecting our children's health to an extent that we would find unthinkable as individual parents. Second, the primary reason for this unacceptable outcome is the erosion of government's role in protecting public health and the environment. Third, this outcome is not where most Americans believe we should be heading. Fourth, as matters stand now, our children and their children will not inherit the legacy that we owe them: a healthy, sustainable planet. Fifth, we can arrest these developments but only if a critical mass of Americans becomes convinced that that the problems are urgent and the solutions near at hand." To that end, Steinzor presents a compelling case that our current governmental dysfunction and paralysis is harming our present and damning our future. Filled with examples of greed and negligence that make even hardened eco-warriors like us shudder, it's a book that might have you pulling the proverbial blanket up over your head once and for all if not for the hopeful final section, which outlines the steps we need to take to take back the commonwealth and restore our government and its agencies to the effective guardians of public health they once were and can be again. In the end, like The Non-Toxic Times itself, this is a book that shows us just what's at stake, what's gone wrong, and how we can fix it. It's a struggle we can win. Our children are counting on it.