A former agricultural specialist for the federal government, Avery argues that high-yield agriculture using chemical pesticides, fertilizers, and biotechnology is the solution to environmental problems—not a cause of them, as environmental activists have found. Using high-yield methods for farming, he argues, frees up more land for wildlife at the same time it can contribute to a stabilized world population, feed hungry Third World children, and provide adequate food for the planet's increasing pet population. According to Avery, organic farming is not broadly sustainable and degrades the environment more than does farming that relies on chemicals. Distributed by Brookings Institution Press.
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The second edition of Dennis Averys 1995 seminal work, Saving the Planet Through Pesticides and Plastics provides the flip side to environmentalist cries of spiraling cancer rates, rising global temperatures and decreasing rainforest acreage. Thoroughly updated and re-written with new information and data, Averys controversial book shows how agricultural technology can save the planet for both people and wildlife.

If one listens to the latest pronouncements from a number of prominent environmentalists, things seem very dire indeed. Poisonous apples, genetically engineered milk, rising global temperatures, and decreasing rainforest acreage are favorite causes. And all too often the media uncritically carries the environmentalists tainted water. Fortunately, there is another side to the story. The second edition of Dennis Averys 1995 seminal work, Saving the Planet Through Pesticides and Plastics shows that cancer risks in the industrialized nations are decreasing; that the worlds temperature rises and falls naturally; that governments, not agribusinesses, have been encouraging people to cut down rain forests; that the industrial nations pollute less than other countries; and that the widespread use of organic farming threatens the worlds wildlife. Avery shows that high yield farming techniques can both feed the earths burgeoning population that will reach 8 billion in the next century while preserving wildlands and wildlife. Thoroughly updated and re-written with new information and data, Averys controversial book shows how agricultural technology can save the planet for both people and wildlife.