[3] With its 10 "commandments", A Contract with the Earth calls for politicians to abandon adversarial politics and for business and conservationists to form compatible partnerships.

In one of the book's themes, Gingrich and Maple argue that environmental efforts shouldn't be exclusive to one political philosophy and reject the idea that free enterprise and a cleaner world are opposing forces.

[4] The book generated a storm of media attention in late 2007 and early 2008 as the U.S. presidential campaign began to heat up.

Gingrich in particular made numerous media appearances arguing that the Republican Party was losing popular support because their response to environmental policy was simply, as he put it, "NO!"

"[3] He is the former Speaker of House of Representatives, and Maple is president and CEO of the Palm Beach Zoo and professor of conservation and behavior at the Georgia Institute of Technology.