Folks:
The book club met again to continue our discussion of “You Are Contaminated,” a New York Times essay by David Wallace-Wells on the pollution of the human body by microplastics and other industrially manufactured substances. It’s hard to find a bright side to this topic, but Tom did his best by pointing out that the Clean Air Act, first passed in 1963 and strengthened in 1970, is thought to save over 200,000 lives globally every year. Similar steps could be taken to limit the damage done by microplastics and other substances. But negotiations in Geneva on a treaty to limit plastic pollution collapsed today, with oil-producing states, including the United States, blocking an agreement. To understand why, Tom commented, one simply has to “follow the money.” But getting people elected who will act on this issue is critically important.
We also discussed what book our group might take on next after Labor Day. Though he did not attend this morning, Joe had written suggesting Cults Like Us: Why Doomsday Thinking Drives America by Jane Borden which explores ways “cult-like thinking” has shaped the American experience since colonization by Europeans. Also on the table was a book we had considered before, Carbon: The Book of Life by Paul Hawken. After some discussion, the group seemed to form a consensus around Cults. I think we were convinced it might help us understand why it has been difficult to build an effective movement to address climate change in the US. But after the meeting, I had some emails from people who are already reading Carbon. As a possible solution, since Cults looks pretty readable (not a “philosophical” work), would it work to read Cults first and then Carbon? Or should we read Carbon first? If we need to discuss this again next Friday, I’m happy to do so. We have some time since our book discussion would begin on September 5.
For next week, we decided to look into the way time spent in nature is declining in the United States and the role personal nature writing and other activities might help to turn that around. As a starting point, we want to look at a article from the Guardian suggested by Candace:
Next Thursday, she will be joining others in a workshop on nature writing sponsored at the Ag Center in Gettysburg. More info is available here:
https://web.cvent.com/event/66968539-b390-4be4-98da-ae8d47eaa3ee/summary
You also may want to think about your own strategies for connecting with nature and come ready to report on them!
Meanwhile, Debby wrote to say she noticed an article in today’s Gettysburg Times on the way people make personal choices about addressing climate change. I am attaching the article as a clipping to this email. She also shared a link to a scholarly article on the same topic which is available here:
The Perception Factor: Climate Change Gets Personal – PMC
If time permits, we may want to discuss these next Friday, or take them up at a later time. I hope to see you then, Friday, August 22, at 9:00 AM on Zoom.
Until soon,
Will Lane, host
Green Gettysburg Book Club
