Starving polar bear on ice melting from climate change. Wikipedia.
Why is it that the US government and Americans tolerate an increasing danger to their lives and the health of the natural world from the burning of petroleum, natural gas, and coal? The science is straightforward. The burning of fossil fuels is increasing the temperature of the planet. So, the solution is obvious. Stop burning fossil fuels. And yet the entire economy and society are hooked on burning the very substances that are causing local and global harm.
To read this article, log in here or subscribe here.
If you are logged in but can't read CP+ articles, check the status of your access here
In order to read CP+ articles, your web browser must be set to accept cookies.
Evaggelos Vallianatos, Ph.D., studied history and biology at the University of Illinois; earned his Ph.D. in Greek and European history at the University of Wisconsin; did postdoctoral studies in the history of science at Harvard. He worked on Capitol Hill and the US EPA; taught at several universities and authored several books, including The Antikythera Mechanism: The Story Behind the Genius of the Greek Computer and its Demise. He is the author of Earth on Fire: Brewing Plagues and Climate Chaos in Our Backyards, forthcoming by World Scientific, Spring 2025.
