On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal

Climate justice expert Klein (media, culture, & feminist studies, Rutgers Univ.; This Changes Everything) combines ten years’ worth of her public talks and essays to clearly explain the urgent need for the creation of the Green New Deal. In 2019, U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey introduced the Green New Deal. Named after President Roosevelt’s New Deal, this immense project would alter the foundation of a political system and an economy that favors the rich in order to enable sustainable energy production, lower pollution, replant forests, and provide jobs for those in fossil fuel industries. Klein blames the climate crisis on greedy corporations, along with a society that allows money and fear to rule decisions. Using examples such as Hurricane Maria’s devastation of Puerto Rico, raging wildfires in the States and elsewhere, migration of people from decimated environments to unwelcoming and hostile countries, and a rise of white supremacist activities around the world, Klein displays the need for a collective solution that will benefit the Earth.