Dateline: Earth Day

Almost on the eve of the 40th celebration of Earth Day, HarperCollins announces that it will publish a brace of books with a strong environmental focus by Charles, the Prince of Wales, over the next two years.

HarperCollins has said it will publish Harmony in 2010, followed by a children’s edition of the same title the next year.

Monster’s and Critics says that the “60-year-old royal -- who is a keen campaigner for green issues -- will not be paid for the project ... but his charity will receive some of the royalties generated.” M&C points out that Prince Charles project “is already being likened to former US Presidential candidate Al Gore’s film, An Inconvenient Truth, which looked at the issue of global warming.” And they’re right: they are being compared in the media. After all, there are just so many connections. Both projects are being spearheaded by famous guys who are talking about saving the planet.

And because it’s Earth Day today, and we feel like doing something swell for the planet, we’ll give the Prince his soapbox, courtesy The Bookseller:

The book provides an analysis of how the world is viewed today. It argues that that in the pursuit of economic growth and technological progress humanity has become dangerously disconnected from nature.

The Prince of Wales said: “I believe that true ‘sustainability’ depends fundamentally upon us shifting our perception and widening our focus, so that we understand, again, that we have a sacred duty of stewardship of the natural order of things. In some of our actions we now behave as if we were ‘masters of Nature’ and, in others, as mere bystanders. If we could rediscover that sense of harmony; that sense of being a part of, rather than apart from Nature, we would perhaps be less likely to see the world as some sort of gigantic production system, capable of ever-increasing outputs for our benefit -- at no cost.”