“Zoom out and what you see is one species--us--struggling to keep all others in their appropriate places, or at least in the places we've decided they ought to stay. In some areas, we want cows but not bison, or mule… — Jon Mooallem Copy Share Image
“The phenomenon that Powell stumbled onto has a name: shifting baselines syndrome... Every generation of scientist accepts the oceans as it inherits them... when the next generation of scientists start their careers, they don't see the oceans as depleted; that… — Jon Mooallem Copy Share Image
“The kids ignored the cranes, and the cranes ignored the kids, George remembered, and that struck him as the best humanity could realistically hope… — Jon Mooallem Copy Share Image
“I was relieved not to find yet another crabby and wounded ex-environmentalist, and I asked her how she was managing to live in a… — Jon Mooallem Copy Share Image
“I'm not arguing that America would be a better or more beautiful place if it had imported hippopotamuses in 1910. But there is something… — Jon Mooallem Copy Share Image
“You're not what you were before," Jana told me, "but neither are you what you're going to be. The soup stage really sucks, but… — Jon Mooallem Copy Share Image
“In other words, in the encroaching malaise of 1910, it was easy to be gripped by the brilliance of the hippopotamus scheme, to feel… — Jon Mooallem Copy Share Image
“Zoom out and what you see is one species--us--struggling to keep all others in their appropriate places, or at least in the places we've… — Jon Mooallem Copy Share Image
“Representative Broussard had dispatched a field agent on a fact-finding mission. The man, a native of southern Africa, found the Louisiana swamps “wildly dismal… — Jon Mooallem Copy Share Image
“This animal, homely as a steam-roller, [is] the embodiment of salvation,” it wrote. “Peace, plenty, and contentment lie before us; and a new life,… — Jon Mooallem Copy Share Image
“Importing antelopes and giraffes suddenly became politically impossible. The experience had left Burnham angry—mostly at himself. He’d been naive enough to believe that America… — Jon Mooallem Copy Share Image
“The phenomenon that Powell stumbled onto has a name: shifting baselines syndrome... Every generation of scientist accepts the oceans as it inherits them... when… — Jon Mooallem Copy Share Image