A Climate of Crisis: America in the Age of Environmentalism (Penguin History American Life)
Our worries over climate change can be traced back to worries about the impact of the atomic bomb, argues Allitt. The same paradox of nuclear weapons—technology so extraordinarily powerful that its success provokes fear—is seen in industrial advancements that have led to worries about the environment. But the same technological or industrial advancement that produces the nuclear fears or environmental threats also makes it possible to detect and measure the threats and find solutions. The problem is exaggeration and fearmongering by groups that have led to mass movements, strident media coverage, and tightened regulations. Offering historical perspective on the tensions between industrialism, wealth-building, and environmentalism, Allitt traces social movements of the 1960s through the creation of Earth Day and the Environmental Protection Agency. Pondering the trade-offs of advancement and economic success vis-á-vis increasing polarization of industrialists and environmentalists, Allitt attempts to balance assumptions about who the good and bad guys are in the drama of the climate crisis and whether the crisis even exists. --Vanessa Bush