The Parrot and the Igloo

Starred review from November 14, 2022
Humor accompanies horrific truths in this vital look at the rise of climate change denial. With dry wit and novelistic flair, National Magazine Award winner Lipsky (Absolutely American) chronicles how harnessing electricity changed the world, then charts growing public awareness of electricity and fossil fuels’ contributions to climate change. After covering the innovations of Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, and George Westinghouse, Lipsky fast-forwards to describe how the climate became a political issue, from concerns over air pollution to the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency to the 2006 Al Gore documentary An Inconvenient Truth. The most revelatory section illuminates corporate disinformation campaigns as Lipsky points out how climate denialism borrowed tactics that the tobacco industry used to push back on science linking smoking with lung cancer, notably the strategy of rebuking scientific consensus by calling for more research. Lipsky adopts an offbeat style (“Arrange all farewells and balloons no later than 2069,” he deadpans about a biologist’s tongue-in-cheek prediction of apocalypse), and his perspective on how diverse cultural and political forces have contributed to inaction on climate change is sobering and incisive. Buoyed by thorough historical research, this is a first-rate entry in the field of climate denial studies.

June 10, 2024

Lipsky (Absolutely American) charts the history of global warming, from Edison's taming of electricity through Westinghouse and Tesla to today's climate crisis. In 1956, scientists demonstrated that global warming was happening and warned that the consequences could be catastrophic if conditions remained unchecked. Carbon emissions were identified as the main problem. Scientists presented evidence to political leaders, waiting for remedial policies to be implemented. Big corporations had other ideas. Their scientists created a story that insidiously cast doubt on the concept of global warming. Opportunities to mitigate the effects of human activity on climate were repeatedly ignored, questioned, or set aside altogether. Even when the warming trend became obvious, and catastrophic weather events became commonplace, leaders in the U.S. did nothing and even reversed previous legislation addressing the problems. Narrator Mike Chamberlain enhances Lipsky's extensively researched work with his animated, conversational style. He is especially effective when conveying the punchiness of Lipsky's prose. VERDICT A thorough history outlining how deniers cast doubt on global warming and the U.S. government's repeated failures to take action. Readers and listeners of Kate Aronoff's Overheated will want to snap this story up.--Joanna M. Burkhardt

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