NON FICTION

EARTH IN THE BALANCE: Ecology and the Human Spirit by Al Gore (Houghton Mifflin: $21.95; 372 pp.). Journalists who cover science, economics, law and other technical fields are used to having manuscripts reappear on their desks with the editorial acronym MEGO scrawled in the margin--My Eyes Glaze Over. Tennessee senator Al Gore, having spent seven years as a journalist, is no doubt aware of the expression, but seems not to have taken it to heart; the first 150 pages of “Earth in the Balance” are MEGO City, to adapt a phrase from George Bush. Gore’s mission is to create a new kind of environmental ethic, one in which “the rescue of the environment is the central organizing principle for civilization,” but he gets off on the wrong foot by piling up details, even about such tangential issues as feedback loops to black holes. Some of the particulars are fascinating--the chapter on decreasing genetic diversity among food plants is especially interesting--but the meat of the book, from the citizen’s point of view, lies in Gore’s discussion of his Global Marshall Plan. Gore suggests that the world cooperate against a common enemy--our own ignorance and short-sightedness--and provides a detailed program to that effect that emphasizes appropriate technology, environmental education and realistic “eco-nomics.” Gore shows himself to be a reflective and principled politician, which may explain why he decided not to run for the presidency this year.