The Green Monkey Wrench: Dave Foreman’s Guide to Ecological Sabotage

Published in 1968, 'The Population Bomb' by Paul and Anne Ehrlich predicts catastrophic consequences, including mass starvation and environmental ruin, due to unchecked population growth. The book argues that immediate action is necessary to control population growth to prevent these dire outcomes. Although many of the Ehrlichs' predictions did not come to pass, the book significantly raised awareness about population and environmental issues and influenced public policy in the 1960s and 1970s. The authors emphasize the need for conscious regulation of human numbers and highlight the strain that growing populations place on the natural world.

The Monkey Wrench Gang follows the adventures of four ecologically minded misfits: George Washington Hayduke III, a Vietnam veteran; Bonnie Abbzug, a feminist saboteur; Seldom Seen Smith, a wilderness guide and outcast Mormon; and Doc Sarvis, a wealthy and wise surgeon. Together, they form a group dedicated to destroying the machinery and infrastructure of industrial development that threatens the natural beauty of the American West. The novel is a mix of comedy, chaos, and civil disobedience, highlighting Abbey's concerns about wilderness preservation and the essential relationship between a healthy planet and healthy human beings.