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As a reoccurring feature on the Sustainability Roundtable blog, we will post reviews of books related to sustainability.  Interested in submitting your own review to the blog? Contact August at aolundsmith@gmail.com.

Review:  Our House is on Fire: Scenes of a Family and a Planet in Crisis by Greta Thunberg, Svante Ernman, Malena Ernman and Beata Ernman

Reviewed by Angele DeNeve, Children’s Librarian at Queens Library at Glen Oaks

How does a 15 year-old girl with Asperger’s Syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder, selective mutism and a severe eating disorder become a world renowned climate activist? Our House is on Fire: Scenes of a Family and a Planet in Crisis offers a raw and honest look at Greta Thurnberg’s family and their personal struggles leading up to the now famous school strike for the climate in August 2018. Readers get a look at the whole family, which sets the scene for their impassioned outrage at  the lack of positive change in our planet’s rapidly increasing carbon emissions.

Greta’s mother, famed opera singer Malena Ernman, already an activist in her own right, fought for human rights, equal rights and the humane treatment of refugees. But it wasn’t until Greta saw a film about climate change that she and her family began to change their awareness of climate issues and made the decision to fight for our climate. In their research they learned that Sweden, their home, was one of the worst offenders in carbon emissions responsible for one of the largest ecological footprints in the world.  “If everyone in the world were to live like Sweden it would require 4.2 planet earths.” They began to look at their own lives to make changes like buying an electric car, becoming vegan and completely stopping all airline travel after realizing that air travel is one of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions.  They quickly understood while these changes were important, they would not be enough.  

In the thirty years since the world was educated about the greenhouse effect and the damage we are collectively doing to our planet, nothing has changed.  Our efforts have not reversed, or even slowed down our carbon emissions.  In truth, they continue to steadily rise each year. More ice is melting, more forests are disappearing, more species are becoming extinct and oceans are becoming polluted. Sweden, which partially inhabits the arctic circle, provides a concrete example of how rapidly climate change is affecting nature and our planet. After visiting northern Sweden, Greta and her father saw firsthand the impact our carbon emissions are having on nature. The crisis was evidenced by the change in temperature, the shifting geography of the boundaries of forest and ice, and the movement of wildlife to accommodate the changes in temperature and vegetation.

Greta explains to readers that nothing is changing because “we are in a crisis that has never been treated as a crisis”. But that is exactly what it is.  A climate crisis.  She blames politicians; politicians who say carbon emissions must be reduced but never do anything to reduce them.  Greta blames the media, calling them a total failure, for neglecting to put climate issues in the headlines and making the crisis known. Our time to correct the planet’s carbon emissions is running out.  Without taking drastic measures the climate crisis will soon become irreversible.

While the story centers around the climate crisis, it also highlights the rise of mental illness in young girls which has directly affected their family with both Greta and her sister Beata being diagnosed with multiple disorders.  In Sweden, mental health issues in children 10-17 years old increased over 100 percent in 10 years.  While the family sheds light on their personal struggles, they also draw connections between climate change and the rise of mental health issues, climate change and the disparity between wealthy and poor countries, climate change and the tragedies that extreme weather have caused. Suggesting that these connections, which the majority of the population probably don’t think about, be explored further. 

After being immersed in this family’s story and their passion for change, readers will undoubtably be educated about the climate crisis and hopefully be inspired to make changes in their own lives.  Personally, I learned a great deal about climate change, the science and the politics behind it, and the leaders in the field, but I was mostly impressed by Greta. Her vast knowledge on the subject, her conviction for the health of our planet, and her remarkable ability to overcome personal adversity to fight for something she cares about while rallying others to support her cause are tremendous accomplishments. Greta gives me hope.

1. Were you surprised, like me, to hear that in the 30 years since we learned about climate change we have not been able to reduce our carbon emissions at all?

2. How much did you know about Greta Thurnberg before reading this?  Have you read or listened to any of her speeches?  Did you know anything about her personal mental health struggles? (Find Greta’s Ted Talk on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAmmUIEsN9A )

3. Can you think of ways that libraries can bring awareness of this issue to the public right now (virtually) in their communities?

As a reoccurring feature on the Sustainability Roundtable blog, we will post reviews of books related to sustainability.  Interested in submitting your own review to the blog? Contact August at aolundsmith@gmail.com.

Review: Poisoned Water: How the Citizens of Flint, Michigan, Fought for Their Lives and Warned the Nation by Candy J. Cooper and Marc Aronson (May 2020; Bloomsbury Children’s Books).

Submitted by Mary Callahan, Queen Public Library

At a time when conversations about systemic racism are taking place across the country, Poisoned Water: How the Citizens of Flint, Michigan, Fought for Their Lives and Warned the Nation by Candy J. Cooper and Marc Aronson is a reminder that environmentalism cannot be extricated from the quest social justice.

The source of the water that gives this book its title was indisputably the polluted Flint River, but, as this book clearly describes, the environmental issues of the Flint water crisis were inextricably linked to issues of race and class.

‘The book has been labeled “for young readers” (ages 10-17) by its publisher, but its subject matter seems more suited to teens than younger readers. In fact, adults looking for a straightforward and engaging overview of the story will find it here. In clear prose, the authors document the events and decisions that led to the water crisis in Flint Michigan and the ways in which the city’s residents—many poor and people of color—struggled to have their concerns about the city’s polluted water supply addressed.

The decision to change Flint’s water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River had its roots in the economic disaster created by massive layoffs at General Motors, the company that was responsible for the growth of Flint and the source of its nickname, the Vehicle City. In 2011, the city, in massive debt, was placed under the supervision of a series of governor-appointed emergency managers whose primary focus was saving money. The water crisis began as a cost-cutting plan. For the preceding 50 years, Flint’s drinking water was taken from Lake Huron and processed and piped in from Detroit. But as Detroit’s water rates increased, Flint officials decided to save money by creating a new pipeline that would deliver water directly from Lake Huron to the Flint, bypassing Detroit. During the two to three years the new pipeline was being built, Flint’s water would come from the Flint River.

The switch occurred in April 2014. In the ensuing year and a half, polluted river water, further tainted by the city’s improper chemical treatment and aging water pipes, poisoned thousands of Flint children with lead, resulted in an outbreak of Legionnaires disease, and caused countless other health ailments. But while Flint residents raised their concerns about the water almost immediately, the water supply was not switched back to Lake Huron for 18 months—until October 2015—and the effects on the city’s water system and its residents still linger.

Cooper, a journalist and Pulitzer Prize finalist, conducted extensive research into public records, news accounts, and emails. But the story is primarily focused on the experiences of city residents who tried to get city, state, and federal officials to address the problem. The indifference of the local officials is mind-boggling: although they were repeatedly presented with samples of off-color, foul-smelling water; with tests revealing high lead levels; and even with clear evidence that the water corroded metal parts at a GM factory, they refused to admit the water posed a danger to people. (Eventually GM arranged to get its water from Lake Huron, but the city would not do the same for the residential water supply.)

Poisoned Water is a testament to the power of grassroots activism. It recognizes, in particular, the leadership positions played by many people of color in Flint. These leaders, the authors note, were often overlooked in earlier reports on the Flint water crisis. As Curt Guyette, a journalist who covered the water crisis story for the ACLU notes, “A lot of people who were never before at the same table came together and worked together really effectively to bring this crisis to the attention of the world.” He added, “It was the residents who saved themselves. That’s the really inspiring aspect of this story… We can save ourselves.”

As much about government mismanagement as it is about water pollution, Poisoned Water draws a timely connection between the environmentalist and social justice movements. As co-author Marc Aronson said in an interview with Publishers Weekly, “As we think about preserving the Earth and our relationship with it, we shouldn’t separate concerns of environmentalism and ecology from the power structures in our world. Those who are most victimized are those with the least power.”

For further reading about how Flint is navigating the Covid-19 pandemic, check out this photo essay published by the New York Times.

Discussion Questions:

1. How much did you know about the Flint water crisis before reading this book? Were you surprised by anything that you read?
2. Why do you think officials were so slow in responding when Flint residents complained about the water from the Flint River?
3. Do you think the Flint water crisis was an environmental crisis or a political one?
4. Can you think of other environmental crises that were caused or complicated by political issues?

As a reoccurring feature on the Sustainability Roundtable blog, we will post reviews of books related to sustainability.  Interested in submitting your own review to the blog? Contact August at aolundsmith@gmail.com.

The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming by David Wallace-Wells

Book Review by Kacper Jarecki

It’s easy to take things for granted – and possibly the biggest thing we take for granted is planet Earth. This non-fiction book is a real eye-opener because it shows us that Earth as we know it, may not be around for much longer. During this time of the pandemic, we are already experiencing and adjusting to new realities of everyday life. However, according to David Wallace-Wells, this might just be a walk in the park compared with what’s to come.

This book does not pull any punches, David Wallace-Wells does not spare us one bit, starting with the title itself. In the first page he writes about the 5 mass extinctions that have already occurred on this planet. I didn’t know there were that many, I only knew about the dinosaurs! A few pages later on page 6, he writes, “whole regions of Africa and Australia and the United States, parts of South America north of Patagonia, and Asia, south of Siberia would be rendered uninhabitable by direct heat, desertification, and flooding” by the year 2100 if the global temperature rises by 4 degrees Celsius. That there may be 200 million climate refugees by 2050. That conflict and warfare between countries could double as countries strive to gain access to more and more limited resources.

David Wallace-Wells writes that instead of dominating Earth, we are actually arming it through pollution, and turning it into an “angry beast” or even “war machine.” David Wallace-Wells even debates whether it is moral to reproduce and have children in this climate where so many things can go wrong. He decides to have hope and he does have a child, named Rocca. Fortunately, we still have a small level of control over what happens. He writes on page 30, “Each of us imposes some suffering on our future selves every time we flip on a light switch, buy a plane ticket, or fail to vote.” He cites ways cities in the future will compete to be greener (since they will have no choice), like banning cars, and having local vertical farms so food won’t have far to travel.

Most of this book describes the multiple horrible ways that global warming will affect Earth including droughts, floods, fires, new deadly virus and bacteria strains, and much more. If you are a fiction writer, this book certainly provides different worst-case scenarios you may not have imagined. The scary part is that this may be real. However, if the author can still have hope and be optimistic after writing this, then we as readers should be hopeful too, and not just hopeful, but inspired to take an active part to save Earth, not just for ourselves, but for all the creatures who call Earth home.

Discussion Questions:

1.       Which facts in the book surprised you? For example, I didn’t know about the “Great Pacific garbage patch” twice the size of Texas floating in the Pacific Ocean.

2.       Which of David Wallace-Wells’s scenarios scares you the most?

3.       What are some things you are doing now to help combat climate change?

4.       Is there anything more you can do?

5.       Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future of Earth? Do you think things will get better or worse, and why?