Is Science Enough?: Forty Critical Questions about Climate Justice

Chomsky (Undocumented), a history professor at Salem State University, considers climate justice in this comprehensive environmental studies primer. Writing that “those least responsible for climate change, like Indigenous peoples and the global poor, are also those who are most vulnerable to its effects,” Chomsky poses 40 questions on issues regarding climate change and social, racial, and economic inequality. She covers the basics, such as “what are greenhouse gases,” “what are clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy sources,” “what is carbon capture,” “what are the main sources of GHG emissions,” and “what is the Paris Agreement.” She then goes deeper into such questions as “what do race and racism have to do with climate change?” (throughout history and in the present, colonization leads to exploitation and climate change, she answers) and “what do workers and the labor movement have to say about climate change?” (organized labor has “a fraught relationship with organized environmentalism,” and a snapshot history of the U.S. labor movement helps explain why). Chomsky does a great job of keeping things simple while providing ample context, and her focus on justice adds urgency. This is a worthwhile contribution to the growing body of work on the ethics of climate change. (Apr.)