| The People's Republic of Chemicals Contributor(s): Kelly, William J. (Author), Jacobs, Chip (Author) |
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ISBN: 1940207258 ISBN-13: 9781940207254 Publisher: Rare Bird Books, a Vireo Book OUR PRICE: $22.46 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: November 2014 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Nature | Environmental Conservation & Protection - General - Political Science | Public Policy - Environmental Policy - Political Science | World - Asian |
| Dewey: 363.739 |
| Physical Information: 0.96" H x 6.46" W x 8.27" (1.18 lbs) 280 pages |
| Themes: - Topical - Ecology - Cultural Region - Asian |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Maverick environmental writers William J. Kelly and Chip Jacobs follow up their acclaimed Smogtown with a provocative examination of China's ecological calamity already imperiling a warming planet. Toxic smog most people figured was obsolete needlessly kills as many as died in the 9/11 attacks every day, while sometimes Grand Canyon-sized drifts of industrial particles aloft on the winds rain down ozone and waterway-poisoning mercury in America. In vivid, gonzo prose blending first-person reportage with exhaustive research and a sense of karma, Kelly and Jacobs describe China's ancient love affair with coal, Bill Clinton's blunders cutting free-trade deals enabling the U.S. to export manufacturing emissions to Asia in a shift that pilloried the West's middle class, Communist Party manipulation of eco-statistics, the horror of cancer villages, the deception of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and spellbinding peasant revolts against cancer-spreading plants involving thousands in mostly-censored melées. Ending with China's monumental coal-bases decried by climatologists as a global warming dagger, The People's Republic of Chemicals names names and emphasizes humanity over bloodless statistics in a classic sure to ruffle feathers as an indictment of money as the real green that not even Al Gore can deny. |