![]() ![]() It is more difficult to react when his philosophy is communicated by fictional characters committed to saving the world from a surreal terrorist plot hatched by a shady environmental organization known as the National Environmental Resource Fund (NERF). It would be relatively easy to respond to Crichton if his views were expressed in a traditional science or policy forum. Worried about the population explosion? Relax: "The people of 2100 will be much richer than we are, consume more energy, have a smaller population, and enjoy more wilderness than we have today." You get the idea. The ban on chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) implicated in reducing the effectiveness of the Earth's protective ozone layer "harmed Third World people by eliminating cheap refrigerants so that their food spoiled more often and more of them died of food poisoning." The ban on DDT was "arguably the greatest tragedy of the twentieth century.Since the ban, two million people a year have died unnecessarily from malaria, mostly children." He also takes shots at those who would promote protection of giant sequoias: concerns about loss of global biodiversity, he posits, are ill informed. ![]() The book targets particularly those who believe that global warming poses a threat that should be taken seriously. Michael Crichton's State of Fear is less a novel than a forum for the author to rail against what he perceives as environmental extremism. ![]()
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