Are you an SEJ member who's authored, co-authored or edited a non-fiction or fiction environmental book (published in 2019) you'd like included on this page? Documentaries are also welcome. Please send the following to web content manager Cindy MacDonald:

1. a one-paragraph description
2. name of publisher and year of publication
3. ISBN number
4. .gif or .jpg image of the book cover (optional)
5. Internet link to more information (optional)

Find links to members' books published in other years here.

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Non-Fiction

 

"Choked: Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution"

By Beth Gardiner

Air pollution prematurely kills seven million people every year, including more than one hundred thousand Americans. It is strongly linked to strokes, heart attacks, many kinds of cancer, dementia, and premature birth, among other ailments. In "Choked," Beth Gardiner travels the world to tell the story of this modern-day plague, taking readers from the halls of power in Washington and the diesel-fogged London streets she walks with her daughter to Poland’s coal heartland and India’s gasping capital. In a gripping narrative that’s alive with powerful voices and personalities, she exposes the political decisions and economic forces that have kept so many of us breathing dirty air. This is a moving, up-close look at the human toll, where we meet the scientists who have transformed our understanding of pollution’s effects on the body and the ordinary people fighting for a cleaner future. University of Chicago Press, 2019. ISBN: 9780226495859. More information.

 

 

"Water in Plain Sight: Hope for a Thirsty World"

By Judith D. Schwartz

Water scarcity is on everyone's mind. Long taken for granted, water availability has become dependent on economics, politics and people's food and lifestyle choices. But as anxiety mounts — and even as a swath of California farmland has been left fallow, and extremist groups worldwide exploit the desperation of people losing livelihoods to desertification — many are finding new routes to water security with key implications for food access, economic resilience and climate change. Water does not perish, nor does it require millions of years to form as do fossil fuels. However water is always on the move and we must learn to work with its natural movement. In this timely, important book, Judith D. Schwartz presents a refreshing perspective on water that transcends zero-sum thinking. By allying with the water cycle, we can revive lush, productive landscapes, like the river in rural Zimbabwe that now flows miles further than it has in living memory thanks to restorative grazing; the fruit-filled food forest in Tucson, Arizona, grown by harvesting urban wastewater; or the mini-oasis in West Texas nourished by dew. Animated by stories from around the globe, "Water In Plain Sight" is an inspiring reminder that fixing the future of our drying planet involves understanding what makes natural systems thrive. Hardcover: St. Martin’s Press 2016; Paperback: Chelsea Green Publishing 2019. ISBN (paperback) 9781603589161. More information.

 

 

"Wild Capital: Nature's Economic and Ecological Wealth"

By Barbara K. Jones

In "Wild Capital," Barbara Jones demonstrates that looking at nature through the lens of the marketplace is a surprisingly effective approach to protecting the environment. Showing that policy-makers and developers rarely associate wild places with monetary values, Jones argues that nature can and should be viewed as a capital asset like any other in order for environmental preservation to be a competitive alternative to development. Jones describes how the ecosystem services model, a tool that connects human well-being with the services nature provides, can play a critical role in assigning species and their habitats measurable values. She uses five highly recognizable animal species — moose, manatees, sharks, wolves and bald eagles — as examples to show how highly valued charismatic fauna can serve as symbolic representations of entire ecosystems at risk. Through an emphasis on branding, incentives and ecotourism, Jones advocates for channeling the social and economic power of these and other faces of nature to inspire greater environmental awareness and stewardship. Contending that many people don’t realize how fiscally pragmatic environmental initiatives can be, Jones is optimistic that by recognizing the costs of habitat destruction and diminished biodiversity, we will make better choices regarding conservation and development. In doing so, we can more readily move toward co-existence with nature and a sustainable future. University of Florida Press, 2019. ISBN: 978-1-68340-104-9. More information.