Project Syndicate
Bill McKibben, The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon: A Graying American Looks Back at His Suburban Boyhood and Wonders What the Hell Happened, Henry Holt, 2022.
This is the most eye-opening climate book I’ve read in a long time. A longtime journalist and activist, Bill McKibben has written his fair share of books covering climate change and other environmental issues directly. But this one goes further than any of his previous titles in explaining exactly why we – both America and, by extension, the world – are where we are. As is usually the case, the answer does not lie with any single development. There is no unifying theory of everything. Instead, a series of small events – many of which could have turned out differently – led us down the road to monster SUVs, suburban sprawl, and an information environment that has been saturated with “fake news” and cynical opposition to climate action.
In: “PS Commentators’ Best Reads in 2022” (16 December 2022)
Related: “Predictions for 2023,” Project Syndicate (30 December 2022)