Climate in Crisis
Who's Causing It, Who's Fighting It, and How We Can Reverse It Before It's Too Late
The 2020 introduction on the Deep State by Robert Kennedy is alone worth the price of this book, summarising as it does the machinations of the corporatocracy in an unholy alliance with the CIA, the power of which the Kennedy family has challenged to their cost over three generations and which has played a central role in transforming America from a democracy into a National Security State. The war on terror is now being replaced by health security as an instrument of fear, manipulation and control. We live in an increasingly beleaguered world. In his initial chapter, Dick Russell details the anti-environmental appointments in the Trump administration before describing the rise of the youth climate movement.
The bulk of the book is devoted to a description of the major fossil fuel players, especially Exxon Mobil which has funded numerous 'conservative' think tanks and foundations over the last 40 years to pump out messages contradicted by their own scientists over that whole period. It is pretty staggering to read about the views and influence of Rex Tillerson both as Exxon CEO and Secretary of State. His mentality is based entirely on the engineering metaphor and he asks what good it is to save the planet if humanity suffers; the melting of the Arctic is seen as a new business opportunity! Then there are the powerful interests of the Koch brothers and the disingenuous PR orchestrated by Richard Berman through various front organisations. By and large, these people portray themselves as devoted to family and good works, while their companies wreak environmental havoc. There is an interesting chapter on pushback by the Rockefeller family against Exxon Mobil and another on fracking interests. Overall, the book paints a vivid picture of the personalities and forces trying to maintain fossil fuel supremacy.