Science - USA (2022-04-15)

SCIENCE science.org 15 APRIL 2022 • VOL 376 ISSUE 6590 253

PHOTO: REUTERS/ALKIS KONSTANTINIDIS

By Miriam Aczel

W

hile most people understand that

we face a looming climate disaster

characterized by severe droughts,

melting glaciers, and increasingly

common wildfires and super-

storms, certain technical details,

policy considerations, and related justice and

equity issues remain murky. Two timely new

books aim to fill these gaps in knowledge.

In Is Science Enough? Forty Critical

Questions About Climate Justice, historian

Aviva Chomsky breaks down the key concepts,

terminology, and often-contentious debates

that surround climate change so that audi-

ences ranging from students to activists can

easily understand them. As the title implies,

Chomsky argues that scientific interventions

are not sufficient to combat global warm-

ing. Our current economic paradigm, she ar-

gues, relies on “extracting and consuming the

earth’s resources in ever-increasing quantities,

and turning them into waste,” and such a sys-

tem is incompatible with a healthy planet.

Moreover, she posits, the approach to

development that has intensified since the

Industrial Revolution is fundamentally un-

fair. Groups that have historically maintained

control of fossil fuels have achieved greater

CLIMATE POLICY

Social, racial, and economic disparities are crucial

considerations in climate policies

BOOKS et al.

Confronting climate injustice

growth and prosperity than others, often at

the disadvantaged groups’ expense. Many

from the latter groups argue that they are due

a piece of the development pie, but Earth’s re-

sources are inherently limited.

Chomsky’s highly readable and accessible

primer is divided into five sections that an-

swer various questions on climate change, in-

cluding how different sectors contribute to it;

how renewable and zero-emission

energy sources are defined; how

the US subsidizes the fossil fuel

industry; the relationship between

social, racial, and economic justice

and climate change; and how eco-

nomic growth affects the environ-

ment. Although the book evaluates

the efficacy of behavioral changes

one might make to help combat cli-

mate change, such as buying elec-

tric cars, giving up flying, or chang-

ing to a meat-free diet, Chomsky is

careful to emphasize that the prob-

lem is society-wide, meaning that

effective interventions must neces-

sarily transcend individual action.

She concludes that the climate

problem reflects deeper issues of

social injustice and inequity that

cannot be fixed by “tweaking in-

centives and adding technolo-

gies.” Major reorganization of the

global economy and society will

be necessary.

In What Climate Justice Means and Why

We Should Care, moral philosopher Elizabeth

Cripps argues that we all share a respon-

sibility to combat the effects of a changing

climate that is disproportionately affecting

those who have done the least to cause it.

She presents clear and compelling evidence

of the burden borne by disadvantaged popu-

lations, maintaining that climate change is,

above all, “about privilege.”

Ten countries, Cripps notes, are respon-

sible for 60% of greenhouse gas emissions—

a major driver of climate change—and while

the impacts of climate change are global

and include severe winter storms in Texas,

wildfires in Australia, and floods in Europe,

the Global South has suffered the most

devastating consequences. Between 2008

and 2016, she writes, roughly 22 million

people were displaced in the Global South

each year. The consequences of such dis-

placements include child marriages, loss of

schooling and employment opportunities,

food insecurity, and more.

Cripps concludes by arguing that we must

all take action, as more than just the planet is

in peril—we also need to ensure that we are

“not killing our fellow human beings.” Those

most responsible for the damage have the

greatest duty to act, however, as the suffering

being wrought in marginalized communities

is due to legacies of “colonialism, slavery, op-

pression, and systematic disregard for basic

human rights.” The book ends on a positive

note, encouraging readers to remember that

while we may at times feel powerless, power

can be found in joining with oth-

ers as a community of responsible

global citizens.

We are facing a global exis-

tential threat that is exacerbated

by the accelerating impacts of a

changing climate and environmen-

tal destruction. How we respond

will determine the future of life

on Earth. As both Chomsky and

Cripps show, addressing climate

change is not just about devising

technical or scientific solutions, it

also requires acknowledging and

addressing social, racial, and eco-

nomic injustices that have played

a role in the crisis. Both books,

however, end on a cautiously posi-

tive note: If we put climate justice

front and center and rethink how

we view growth and the world

economy, we can reach equitable

and inclusive solutions to our

changing climate. j

10.1126/science.abo3385

Drought and deforestation have transformed a once-

fertile region of Madagascar into a dust bowl.

Is Science Enough?

Aviva Chomsky

Beacon Press, 2022.

240 pp.

The reviewer is at the California Institute for Energy and

Environment, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720,

USA. Email: [email protected]

What Climate Justice

Means and Why We

Should Care

Elizabeth Cripps

Bloomsbury Continuum,

2022. 224 pp.