Over the last century mankind has irrevocably damaged the environment through the unscrupulous greed of big business and our own willful ignorance. Here are the strikingly poignant accounts of disasters whose names live in infamy: Chernobyl, Bhopal, Exxon Valdez, Three Mile Island, Love Canal, Minamata and others. And with these, the extraordinary and inspirational stories of the countless men and women who fought bravely to protect the communities and environments at risk.

Chernobyl, Exxon Valdez, and Love Canal - these names of preventable disasters haunt the world, and serve as reminders of the tragedies caused by political negligence and economic greed. Hernan's accounts explain how the disasters transpired and discusses the responses of governments and individuals.

This book reviews efforts to control hazardous chemicals from the early 1970s into the very beginning of the 1990s. Many of the issues which were hotly debated 15 years earlier are still on the national agenda and are surrounded with more controversy than ever before. The emphasis is on environmental goals and on general policies and approaches in search of these goals. At the same time, environmental issues teem with controversy over details-in the fine print of the laws, in the Federal Register announcements of new regulations, in enforcement orders, and in court rulings. In the environmental field the gaps are enormous between the politicians, the experts, and the public in understanding the facts, in recognizing the uncertainties, in developing a basis for reaching decisions laden with value judgments, and in translating these judgments into implementation activities. However, the goals must be clear even to identify the important facts and uncertainties themselves and to frame the judgments which must be made. If a consensus cannot be reached on the appropriate goals and objectives, then the nation is in serious trouble. The importance of such a consensus is underscored by one industrial estimate that each American family already pays $150 per month in direct and hidden environmental costs, expenditures which we can ill-afford to misdirect.

Back in 2007, two gently unemployed people with no previous restaurant experience drove 90 minutes to Chicago to eat a raw food dinner. 90 minutes. They said, I wish there was somewhere closer And they were stupid enough to decide the best solution to the problem was to open their own raw vegan restaurant. Not normal people. Not even close. This is their story. KATHY: Did you remember to put in the recipes? DANNY: Yes. The string around my finger totally worked.