Dr. Weldon is an engineer by training and experience. He holds bachelors and masters degrees in Mechanical Engineering and earned his doctorate in Environmental Engineering from the University of Iowa. He has spent much of his career working in industrial power plants. His experience includes working for large corporations in the pulp and paper, building products, and food products industries. He has also worked as a plant engineer for a Midwestern municipal electrical utility. His current position is focused on energy conservation and environmental sustainability for a large food manufacturer. Dr. Weldon has been a college instructor and carried out research in the areas of ground source heat pump systems and the association of water quality in Midwestern rivers with agricultural land use patterns. He is married with four children and lives in a wonderful small town in eastern Iowa.

"... a timely, practical, and well-focused book on the topic of "practical environmentalism." ... Good foundational reading for a wide audience including activists, policy makers, researchers, and resource managers in both public and private sectors. Summing Up: Recommended." - CHOICE Magazine, April 2012

• An Introduction to Practical Environmentalism and the Four Pillars. A Short History of Environmentalism in the United States. The Ethics of Environmentalism. The Confounding Factors. Environmental Degradation-The First Pillar. Resource Conservation-The Second Pillar. The "Human" Pillars of Economic Progress and Personal Benefit. Scoring with the Pillars-A Few Simple Examples to Illustrate the Method. The Pillars in Daily Life. The Pillars and the Really Big Issues. More Really Big Issues-The Sacrificial Ones. The Pillars and Global Warming. Other Measures of Environmental Performance. Some Final Thoughts. Index.