George Williams is rightly honored for his contributions to basic biological theory. In addition, however his thought and contribution paved the way for much needed integration of basic evolutionary theory and modern environmental problems. Specifically, his contributions to the “levels of selection” debate, and his application of these contributions to the “Gaia” approach to ecological problems, may help us improve our ability to move past untested prescriptions to a thoughtful matching of the characteristics of the problem and solution, and thus improve our effectiveness.