FRESH AIR, CLEAN WATER
Our Right to a Healthy Environment
From the Orca Think series, volume 4
by Megan Clendenan ; illustrated by Julie McLaughlin
Clendenan lucidly and compellingly makes the case for environmental health as a human right.
This comprehensive primer is organized into four chapters. First, the problems are outlined: overuse of water and other natural resources, air pollution, poisoned water, and climate change. Various global examples, involving failures of infrastructure, government, and due process, are cited to demonstrate how crimes against nature are also human rights violations. The second chapter traces humankind’s evolving awareness of the need for environmental laws and regulations by reviewing pivotal developments of the last 70 years. Nearly 200 countries now have various kinds of legal protections, but laws need to be enforced; so, the third chapter describes important environmental rights court cases and international accords. The powerful closing chapter profiles real-life young changemakers employing legal and collective action to demand clean air, water, and soil. Straightforward exposition is presented in digestible chunks with clear subheadings. Fact boxes and colored sidebars round off the information presented in the text. Spreads are enhanced with an effective meld of full-color illustrations and well-captioned photographs.
A forceful and informative handbook on environmental justice, accessible enough to strike a chord with young readers.
(index, glossary, resource list) (Nonfiction. 10-14)