review

Cimate change, climate forcing, global warming – all these terms frame a collective public debate about the future of the world as we know it. Since that “world” is dynamic and geographically diverse, it is not surprising that political responses range widely from hand-wringing to commitment and resignation, to disbelief and reticence, or even outright denial.

Deep Economy, Bill McKibben, New York: Times Books, 2007.

Bill McKibben’s writing is like brain candy for the environmentally aware. Always concise and candid, he manages to say all the right things at just the right time. In Deep Economy, McKibben once again tackles a vast topic – this time the persistent paradigm of “endless economic growth” – only to distill it down to polite conversation full of anecdotal nuggets. He argues that the “culture of More” is the root cause of our current environmental crises. ...

When I first started to research and write about chemicals in Canada’s food supply, no one close to me had had cancer. Now, dozens of years later, several friends have died from the disease (two of them environmental leaders, one pictured in this book) and my partner and others near me are survivors. That doesn’t prove there’s a cancer epidemic, only that I’m older and have known more people.

Unless you hid under a rock this summer, you were aware that the seventh and final Harry Potter book hit the bookstores. It was infectious or annoying, depending on your sentiments, watching the Potter-heads nose deep in the Deathly Hallows on every city bus and street corner. So, I decided to see what all the fuss was about, not just by picking up a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, but by reading all seven of J.K. Rowling’s massively popular wizard books in rapid succession. ...