Mon Oct 1, 2012, 05:20 PM

n2doc (47,953 posts)

Barry Commoner dies: Scientist, Candidate and Planet Earth’s Lifeguard

Source: NYT

By DANIEL LEWIS
Published: October 1, 2012 43 Comments

Barry Commoner, a founder of modern ecology and one of its most provocative thinkers and mobilizers, died Sunday in Manhattan. He was 95 and lived in Brooklyn Heights.

His wife, Lisa Feiner, confirmed his death.

Dr. Commoner was a leader among a generation of scientist-activists who recognized the toxic consequences of America’s post-World War II technology boom, and one of the first to stir the national debate over the public’s right to comprehend the risks and make decisions about them.

Raised in Brooklyn during the Depression and trained as a biologist at Columbia and Harvard, he came armed with a combination of scientific expertise and leftist zeal. His work on the global effects of radioactive fallout, which included documenting concentrations of strontium 90 in the baby teeth of thousands of children, contributed materially to the adoption of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/02/us/barry-commoner-dies-at-95.html?hp

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14 replies	Author	Time	Post
Barry Commoner dies: Scientist, Candidate and Planet Earth’s Lifeguard (Original post)	n2doc	Oct 2012	OP
RIP, Barry...	immoderate	Oct 2012	#1
He made a tremendous difference in the world.	bananas	Oct 2012	#2
He was the first person I ever voted for for President...	mak3cats	Oct 2012	#3
Yup, I voted for him too, and I had to write in his name to vote for him.	NBachers	Oct 2012	#11
Yes I voted for him too. Everyone should be allowed one third party vote and he was mine.	bklyncowgirl	Oct 2012	#12
A long life magnificently lived.	Ken Burch	Oct 2012	#4
The Politics of Energy has been a major influence on my worldview.	KamaAina	Oct 2012	#5
RIP. A great one. n/t	Bossy Monkey	Oct 2012	#6
RIP Barry. We need a million more like you.	Vidar	Oct 2012	#7
One of the good ones	Botany	Oct 2012	#8
The Closing Circle	Tansy_Gold	Oct 2012	#9
He'll be missed. Very sorry to hear this.	PDJane	Oct 2012	#10
I didn't see this post earlier, though I saw Barry's obituary in the paper	LiberalEsto	Oct 2012	#13
RIP	burrowowl	Oct 2012	#14

Response to n2doc (Original post)

Mon Oct 1, 2012, 05:22 PM

immoderate (20,885 posts)

1. RIP, Barry...

--imm

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Response to n2doc (Original post)

Mon Oct 1, 2012, 05:23 PM

bananas (27,509 posts)

2. He made a tremendous difference in the world.

Sad to see him go.

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Response to n2doc (Original post)

Mon Oct 1, 2012, 05:24 PM

mak3cats (1,573 posts)

3. He was the first person I ever voted for for President...

way, way back in 1980.

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Response to mak3cats (Reply #3)

Mon Oct 1, 2012, 07:27 PM

NBachers (13,657 posts)

11. Yup, I voted for him too, and I had to write in his name to vote for him.

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Response to mak3cats (Reply #3)

Mon Oct 1, 2012, 07:46 PM

bklyncowgirl (7,960 posts)

12. Yes I voted for him too. Everyone should be allowed one third party vote and he was mine.

For years I blamed myself for Ronald Reagan because of that vote. Of course in New York state it wouldn't have made much of a difference--I think--but at the time I didn't understand the workings of the electoral college.

RIP Barry, you were great!

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Response to n2doc (Original post)

Mon Oct 1, 2012, 05:29 PM

Ken Burch (50,254 posts)

4. A long life magnificently lived.

If only OUR party were to embrace the values he lived by and fought for.

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Response to n2doc (Original post)

Mon Oct 1, 2012, 05:31 PM

KamaAina (78,249 posts)

5. The Politics of Energy has been a major influence on my worldview.

He advocated using natural gas as a bridge fuel to methane created from green sources such as biomass.

Aside: My copy of it was most likely lost in Katrina. I had loaned it to a friend in NOLA and never retrieved it. His Mid-City neighborhood was among those flooded out.

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Response to n2doc (Original post)

Mon Oct 1, 2012, 05:41 PM

Bossy Monkey (15,863 posts)

6. RIP. A great one. n/t

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Response to n2doc (Original post)

Mon Oct 1, 2012, 06:14 PM

Vidar (18,335 posts)

7. RIP Barry. We need a million more like you.

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Response to n2doc (Original post)

Mon Oct 1, 2012, 06:16 PM

Botany (59,189 posts)

8. One of the good ones

50 years before his time

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Response to n2doc (Original post)

Mon Oct 1, 2012, 06:33 PM

Tansy_Gold (16,800 posts)

9. The Closing Circle

was one of the first "political" books I ever read.

A great voice that will be missed, and yet will live on.

RIP

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Response to n2doc (Original post)

Mon Oct 1, 2012, 07:22 PM

PDJane (10,103 posts)

10. He'll be missed. Very sorry to hear this.

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Response to n2doc (Original post)

Fri Oct 5, 2012, 04:38 PM

LiberalEsto (22,845 posts)

13. I didn't see this post earlier, though I saw Barry's obituary in the paper

I was a member of the Citizens Party and voted for Barry Commoner when he ran for president. Met him a couple of times too. Once he came to speak out against planned trash incineratorin NJ (where else?)that he said would spew dioxins into the air around it. This was way back before the media and general public had heard of dioxins or their potential hazards.

He was a great and visionary person. May he rest in peace.

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Response to n2doc (Original post)

Fri Oct 5, 2012, 10:39 PM

burrowowl (14,794 posts)

14. RIP

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