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Green Gone Wrong
Book

Green Gone Wrong

Dispatches from the Front Lines of Eco-Capitalism

Heather Rogers
Verso Books, 2013

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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Eye Opening
  • Concrete Examples

Recommendation

Since 2007’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth, people have tried to consume their way out of global warming by harnessing market forces that feature among the engines driving planetary destruction. Journalist Heather Rogers investigates the hype of buying green and finds the worst kind of greenwashing: USDA rules that rig the “organic” label in favor of factory farming; organic certification agencies – and governments – that ignore the wholesale destruction of “biodiverse” rainforest ecosystems in favor of “monoculture” croplands; a marketplace that cheats and destroys indigenous communities; and people who compete with machines for fuel. Rogers asks whether market forces can curtail carbon emissions and help people and the planet. Her investigation will intrigue those who want to make sure their green investments are truly useful weapons against climate change.

Take-Aways

  • Despite increased demand, most organic farmers don’t make a living wage.
  • Food processing, distribution centers and USDA regulations favor corner-cutting, deep-pocketed agribusiness over small growers.
  • Other nations’ laws favor large corporations over small farmers.

About the Author

Journalist Heather Rogers also wrote Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage.

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