Bob Schildgen
Sierra, Sept-Oct 1998 v83 n5 p82(1)
Global Spin: The Corporate Assault on Environmentalism, Sharon Beder, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 1997.
Global Spin: The Corporate Assault on Environmentalism by Sharon Beder (Chelsea Green, $27195) journeys deep into the realm of corporate- and conservative-sponsored think tanks, PR firms, "wise-use" organizations, megamedia, and industry-funded anti-enviro front groups with green names like National Wetlands Coalition or Council Solid Waste Solutions. Beder details the growth of this huge propaganda machine since 1970, when business began a counterattack on social movements that challenged its hegemony. So pervasive is its influence that there's even a revolving door between think tanks and government, one that spun 39 Heritage Foundation staff members into federal posts in the Reagan years alone. To battle such corporate power, Beder calls for a new wave of environmentalism to "engage in the task of exposing corporate myths and methods of manipulation" and open up "new areas and ideas to public debate rather than following an old agenda set by corporations."
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