The New York Times Book Review has an author interview section in which the author is asked what one book he or she would recommend the President read. This book would be one I'd suggest.
Drawing from a number of ancient and more contemporary societies, Jared Diamond synthesizes a list of problems that ultimately led to the demise of a society - mostly problems related to the environment - e.g., too little rainfall, too few trees, too great a population to be supported by existing resources. But it is our attitudes (mainly passed down from generation to generation and never modified), according to Diamond, that play a significant role in how to deal (or not) with environmental problems. I came to see partly why Haiti, for example, has been so perpetually bogged down by poverty and misrule, despite decades of intervention and aid. While the book is depressing because so many societies have already failed (e.g., Easter Island, Greenland's medieval farm society), it's also a wake-up call to do something: write your congressmen, buy food (e.g., fish at Shaw's or Whole Foods) and raw materials (e.g., lumber at Home Depot or Lowe's) at businesses that abide by responsible harvesting guidelines.
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