5 Important Books on Plastic, Energy, and Air pollution

5 Important Reads on Plastic, Energy, and Air pollution

By Brianne Kane edited by Jeanna Bryner

The fossil-fuel trade is pivoting to plastics: huge corporations are launching new refineries and different industrial crops to make plastic from petrochemicals. Science journalist Beth Gardiner follows this story in our December difficulty, the place you’ll meet the communities being harmed and the businesses spending billions of {dollars} to manage the way forward for plastic.

To enrich that learn, listed here are just a few books that you may dive into and discover the wild world of waste administration, the chemistry of plastics and extra examples of company espionage and drama.

Plastic Inc.: The Secret Historical past and Stunning Way forward for Large Oil’s Largest Wager
by Beth Gardiner
Avery, February 2026

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Beth Gardiner’s new ebook about large oil’s wager on plastic’s future is popping out in February 2026. She discusses the historical past that led us right here and the large cash spent to persuade us to not recycle, scale back our carbon footprint or fear about single-use plastic.

They Poisoned the World: Life and Demise within the Age of Perpetually Chemical compounds
by Mariah Blake
Crown, Might 2025

On this fascinating ebook, investigative reporter Mariah Blake offers readers an account of the large companies which are making an attempt to cover the risks of “endlessly chemical compounds” and the methods they’ve used to maintain the toxins off the general public’s radar.

Waste Wars: The Wild Afterlife of Your Trash
by Alexander Clapp
Little, Brown and Firm, February 2025

Take a wild experience across the globe as journalist Alexander Clapp reveals you how plastic will get smashed, melted or misplaced at sea in an try and get rubbish out of sight as quickly as attainable, regardless of the fee.

Saving Us: A Local weather Scientist’s Case for Hope and Therapeutic in a Divided World
by Katharine Hayhoe
Atria/One Sign Publishers, September 2021

Atmospheric scientist Katharine Hayhoe delivers an optimistic view of our planet’s future on this ebook, which local weather scientist and writer Kate Marvel applauds for its directness and optimism within the September 2021 difficulty of Scientific American.

Citizen Coke: The Making of Coca-Cola Capitalism
by Bartow J. Elmore
W. W. Norton, December 2016

For those who’re in search of a dramatic story of conspiracy and espionage, a lot extra drama unfolds on this ebook by historian Bartow J. Elmore, who examines how a sure soda producer has affected the atmosphere, our wallets and our day-to-day buying choices.

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