WHO GETS TO ADAPT?

An expert on environmental policy explores the social implications of climate change in this nonfiction work, the third in a series.

“This book will make those with privilege feel uncomfortable,” declares Collin in the book’s opening lines, observing that “environmental elite individuals and organizations” have the privilege to adapt to climate change in ways that blue-collar and marginalized communities can’t. Central to the author’s underlying argument is the assertion that the growing “climate divide” between elite and blue-collar communities is not “inevitable” but the result of policies, systems, and deliberate decisions made by people—and, thus, the divide “can be changed by people.” Collin emphasizes the difference between resilience—which he defines as a system’s ability to “absorb shocks and return to baseline”—and flourishing, which describes social adaptations that markedly improve people’s lives, health, and sense of dignity. While the author is well versed in the nuances of contemporary environmental justice, what stands out is his ability to contextualize America’s current moment of “environmental elitism” within a framework that connects the 21st century to a history of colonial abuses. As he notes, “Climate adaptation now brings these long-standing dynamics into sharper relief.” (Even early conservationists embraced a worldview that left the urban poor with a degraded infrastructure while providing wealthier communities with parks, tree canopies, and wilderness escapes.) The final volume in a three-book series on climate change, this work powerfully reframes conversations on climate change to include the broader implications of our current socioeconomic system, asking “whether we can flourish together in a warming world.” The author of more than a half dozen books on climate change and environmental justice, Collin effectively blends his deep understanding of the topic (the text is supported by scholarly references) with the passion of an activist and the logical precision of a lawyer. Rather than just criticizing preexisting systems, Collin provides pragmatic solutions.

A well-argued analysis of climate adaptation in contemporary America.