Phil Lewis looks to the future

In contributing editor George Vukelich's cover story, Phil Lewis of the UW-Madison's Environmental Awareness Center calls for an Aldo Leopold-style land ethic "to protect and enhance natural systems for future generations." Too much environmental damage, says Lewis, is attributable to ignorance, and technical 500-page reports don't enlighten. So he advocates multimedia campaigns to educate the public on how things will look in 10 or 15 years if current trends continue. "It is late in the day for solving many of our problems," Lewis concedes. "We have all the technology and all the understanding of the scientists, but we're just not putting it together!" Two decades later, it is even later in the day. Now an emeritus UW professor, Lewis was presented last November with the inaugural Bringing Bioneers to Wisconsin Award.