February 2023 MBR The Environmental Studies Shelf

The Environmental Studies Shelf

Greenovation: Urban Leadership on Climate Change
Joan Fitzgerald
Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016-4314
www.oup.com/us
9780190695514, $31.95, HC, 256pp

https://www.amazon.com/Greenovation-Urban-Leadership-Climate-Change/dp/019069551X

Synopsis: Collectively, cities take up a relatively tiny amount of land on the earth, yet emit 72 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Clearly, cities need to be at the center of any broad effort to reduce climate change.

With the publication of "Greenovation: Urban Leadership on Climate Change", the eminent urban policy scholar Joan Fitzgerald argues that too many cities are only implementing random acts of greenness that will do little to address the climate crisis. She instead calls for "greenovation" -- using the city as a test bed for adopting and perfecting green technologies for more energy efficient buildings, transportation, and infrastructure more broadly.

Further, Professor Fitzgerald contends that while many city mayors cite income inequality as a pressing problem, few cities are connecting climate action and social justice -- another aspect of greenovation. Focusing on the biggest producers of greenhouse gases in cities, buildings, energy and transportation, Fitzgerald examines how greenovating cities are reducing emissions overall and lays out an agenda for fostering and implementing urban innovations that can help reverse the path toward irrevocable climate damage. Drawing on interviews with practitioners in more than 20 North American and European cities, she identifies the strategies and policies they are employing and how support from state, provincial and national governments has supported or thwarted their efforts.

A uniquely urban-focused appraisal of the economic, political, and social debates that underpin the drive to "go green", "Greenovation" helps us understand what is arguably the toughest policy problem of our era: the increasing impact of anthropocentric climate change on modern social life.

Critique: A timely, focused, insightfully informative, and unique contribution to our on-going national conversation about dealing with our climate-changing environment, "Greenovation: Urban Leadership on Climate Change" is an extraordinary and inspiring read. While unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic Contemporary Environmental Policy collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists, it should be noted for students, academia, governmental policy makers, environmental activists, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Greenovation: Urban Leadership on Climate Change" is also available in a paperback edition (9780197651421, $24.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $13.19).

Editorial Note: Joan Fitzgerald (https://joanfitzgerald.com) is Professor of Urban and Public Policy at Northeastern University. She focuses on urban climate action policy, governance, and finance. She is co-authoring her next book on cities and the struggle for climate justice.

Oil in the Sea IV: Inputs, Fates, and Effects
Consensus Study Report
National Academies Press
500 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001
www.nap.edu
9780309274296, $75.00, PB, 516pp

https://www.amazon.com/Oil-Sea-IV-Inputs-Effects/dp/030927429X

Synopsis: Oil and natural gas represent more than 50 percent of the worldwide energy supply, with high energy demand driven by population growth and improving standards of living. Despite significant progress in reducing the amount of oil in the sea from consumption, exploration, transportation, and production, risks remain.

"Oil in the Sea IV: Inputs, Fates, and Effects " is the fourth report in a series, documents the current state-of-knowledge on inputs, fates and effects of oil in the sea, reflecting almost 20 additional years of research, including long-term effects from spills such as the Exxon Valdez and a decade-long boom in oil spill science research following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

This report finds that land-based sources of oil are the biggest input of oil to the sea, far outweighing other sources, and it also notes that the effects of chronic inputs on the marine environment, such as land-based runoff, are very different than that from an acute input, such as a spill. Steps to prevent chronic land-based oil inputs include reducing gasoline vehicle usage, improving fuel efficiency, increasing usage of electric vehicles, replacing older vehicles.

This report also identifies research gaps and provides specific recommendations aimed at preventing future accidental spills and ensuring oil spill responders are equipped with the best response tools and information to limit oil?s impact on the marine environment.

Critique: Informative enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of References, a listing Acronyms/Abbreviations, twelve Appendices, and a Glossary, "Oil in the Sea IV: Inputs, Fates, and Effects" is exceptionally well organized and presented, making it an invaluable and core addition to personal, professional, governmental, college, and university library Marine Environmental Studies collections and supplemental curriculum lists.

Environmental Ethics in the Midwest
Ian A. Smith, editor
Matt Ferkany, editor
Michigan State University Press
1405 South Harrison Road, Suite 25, East Lansing, MI 48823-5245
http://msupress.org
9781611864427, $44.95, PB, 270pp

https://msupress.org/9781611864427/environmental-ethics-in-the-midwest

Synopsis: The American Midwest is environmentally rich and complex, home to some of the world's largest freshwater lakes and streams as well as cities, prairies, forests, and farmlands. Nevertheless, the unique environmental opportunities and challenges the region presents have been left underappreciated and under-explored by environmental ethicists. The close integration of the natural and built environments of the Midwest prompts interdisciplinary inquiry in a particularly pointed way.

Collaboratively compiled and co-edited by Ian A. Smith and Matt Ferkany in order to remedy the lack of scholarly attention to this area, "Environmental Ethics in the Midwest: Interdisciplinary Approaches" attends to the way that the broad concerns of environmental ethics manifest in the region. Comprised of eight original essays, the wide range of topics covered include: agrarian ethics and Stoicism; the Dakota access pipeline and Indigenous women's activism; philosophy of law and species classification; environmental justice and the Flint water crisis; hog farming and antimicrobial drug resistance; science education standards and climate change education; virtue ethics and ecological restoration; environmental pragmatism and the Clean Water Act; and more.

Each accessibly written chapter brings multidisciplinary complexity to bear on this complex region. The contributors include philosophers working in environmental ethics and other subfields of philosophy, and together with scholars in fields such as environmental sociology, American Indian studies, and environmental studies. Collectively they provide a fresh and necessary perspective on various environmental issues germane to the American Midwest.

Critique: Featuring a complete listing of the contributors and their credentials, "Environmental Ethics in the Midwest: Interdisciplinary Approaches" is a very special and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Environmental and Conservation Ethics collections and supplemental curriculum studies. It should be noted for students, academia, environmental activists, governmental policy makers, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Environmental Ethics in the Midwest: Interdisciplinary Approaches" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $42.70).

Editorial Note #1: Ian A. Smith (https://www.washburn.edu/our-faculty/ian-smith) is associate professor of philosophy and chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Washburn University, where he primarily teaches ethics and logic classes.

Editorial Note #2: Matt Ferkany (https://people.cal.msu.edu/ferkany) is associate professor in philosophy and affiliated faculty of the Environmental Science and Policy Program at Michigan State University. His work concerns virtue, environmental ethics, and moral education.

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