Book Reviews - by Joanna Schroeder

Book Review – Coming Clean
By Joanna Schroeder

Come Clean America! This week I read “Coming Clean: Breaking America’s Addiction to Oil and Coal,” by Micheal Brune. I’m going to come clean for a moment and let you know that Brune is the Executive Director of the Rainforest Action Network and the book was published by Sierra Club Books. Ironically, last week I read Green Inc., and many organizations mentioned in this book, including Brune’s own, were called out by MacDonald for ethical and moral issues.

As controversy is a great prerequisite for fodder, I’ll point out that Brune is a huge advocate of global warming. He writes, “Let me be blunt: if we only take individual action and do nothing else to save our climate, we’re probably cooked. We need to aim higher by changing corporate America and challenging our political leaders.”

Brune highlights several issues in the book including Big Oil; King Coal; how banks are funding global climate change; how to jump-start Detroit; wind and solar; and as always one of my favorites, biofuels, which Brune calls agrofuels. I rarely read an energy book where the author is truly up to speed on biofuels and Brune is no exception. Like most everyone, he hates corn ethanol and writes that biofuels may have an important role to play if they meet five criteria. They must:

1. reduce greenhouse gases
2. not displace food crops and threaten food security for the world’s poor
3. uphold the integrity of critical ecosystems, particularly in tropical forests
4. strengthen the human rights of community farmers and indigenous people
5. should be developed only as part of a broader strategy to reduce fuel consumption and redesign mobility

Brune laments the rapidity of growth in the agrofuels industry and cautions that if things don’t slow down we could be developing the recipe for disaster. “It would be wise to put a global moratorium on the expansion of the industry until we can get it right, seeking input from the stakeholders that would be most affected by agrofuels development.”

While I see his point, and agree that his five issues are important, I ultimately disagree that we are on the path of disaster with our current biofuels initiatives. Our continued use of fossil fuels and our excuses as to why our current options won’t work will not help us get America to where it needs to be.

One last note. One of the great elements of this book is that in each chapter Brune gives the readers “Take Action” resources- enough to get people engaged but not so much that a person could become overwhelmed. This is a great tool for those who are passionate about sustainability. If you read the book for this reason only, it would be worth it.

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Book Review – Green Inc.
By Joanna Schroeder
Used with permission from DomesticFuel.com

With the tidal wave rushing in a new green economy, companies are attempting to ride the waves. But many are being pulled under by the tow, including many of the very groups who are supposed to be the top surfers. “Green Inc.” is an expose about how the world of conversation and those who swim in it, are crashing.

Green, Inc. was written by author Christine MacDonald who left her job as a journalist to join the public relations team with one of the largest environmental groups in the world, Conservation International. It was during this time she discovered that something was “deeply wrong” in the world of conservationism. MacDonald was disturbed so much so that when laid off, she wrote a book about the serious issues embedded in environmental groups.

One of the biggest conundrums she tackles is whether it is morally and ethically wrong for an environmental organization to take money from the groups that it is trying to police. Some environmental groups argue that taking money from companies like Exxon Mobil, Bunge, International Paper, and others, is a way to “influence corporate leaders to change their polluting ways”.

Yet these environmental offenders believe that donating money to groups like CI, World Wildlife Fund, Environmental Defense, Natural Resources Defense Council, and others, will give them “reputation insurance” or a “get out of jail free card” on their environmental rap sheet. Oftentimes, MacDonald cites, these groups actually give these environmental offenders awards for their “sustainability” programs. Now that’s an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one.

This is a well-written, well-documented piece on the underbelly of conservation. But despite the problems MacDonald “outs” she is still an optimist that these issues can and must be changed. She writes, “we need our environmental organizations more than ever today. But the biggest and best funded of them are failing us. By taking corporate dollars and giving corporate executives the keys to the boardrooms, these nonprofit groups have abandoned their missions at a critical time in history.”

Don’t lose hope citizens of the world, there are more than 12,000 registered environmental groups worldwide for you to support. However, in the spirit of MacDonald, you’ll want to dig a little deeper before writing that check.

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Joanna Schroeder, APR
Principal, 4R Communications
Phone: 636-399-4381
Email: jms@4RCommunications.com
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NY Signs Plastic Bag Recycling Bill

New York Governor David Paterson signed into law a bill that requires many retail establishments to start programs to collect plastic bags for recycling.

Starting Jan. 1, 2009, large grocery stores and retailers that provide plastic bags will be required to spot bins where customers can place their returned bags. Read more