In 19th century America, captains of industries who amassed huge fortunes using unfair business practices were denounced as "robber barons." John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, who are nowadays best known for their philanthropic legacy, once fell under that label for their dominance in steel, railroad and oil industries.
There is now a new twist on the term "robber baron." Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Edward Humes uses "eco baron" to describe environmental visionaries who use their wealth, expertise and passion to make a difference.
In his book, "Eco Barons: The Dreamers, Schemers, and Millionaires Who are Saving Our Planet," due for release March 3, Humes profiles a wide range of people who are at the environmental protection frontier, not just the wealthy with an environmental bent.
Featured in the book are people such as Douglas Tompkins, founder of the North Face outdoor clothing line, and Roxanne Quimby, who turned Burt's Bees into a national cosmetics brand. The two entrepreneurs have both used their wealth to buy land to create ecological reserves.
Tompkins and his wife, Kristin McDivitt, a former apparel executive with Patagonia, have acquired some 2 million acres of ecologically sensitive territories in Argentina and Chile, but not without having to overcome opposition. Quimby is using her money to preserve woods in Maine. Again, her effort is not without controversy. Elliotsville Plantation Inc., the nonprofit she created, owns about 90,000 acres of wildland in northern and coastal Maine.
Harry Hurt III, a columnist with the New York Times, criticized Humes' book for its "sprawling scope" in a Feb. 14 review but also said it carries a worthy message and inspires us all to become "eco barons" in our own right.
"Although Mr. Humes is an able reporter and a passionate writer, he tries to cover too many ecological crises and praise too many people. At times, the book reads like a roster of nominees for the environmentalist hall of fame."
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