Climate Crossroads, livre ebook

How communities across the US South are fighting to save their home from the effects of environmental change

Rising seas, extreme heat, fragile infrastructure, and long-standing social inequities make the American South particularly susceptible to the hazards of climate change and weather events. Climate Crossroads reveals how environmental factors are reshaping the South’s landscape, politics, and identity—and how the region’s history magnifies every storm, flood, and heat wave. This book asks a pressing question about the future of the region: How can communities facing the greatest climate risks fight to protect their home?

Drawing from on-the-ground investigations from Texas to Florida and the Carolinas, John Dunn highlights the South’s climate challenges, including threatened coastlines, accelerated population growth in cities struggling to adapt, and marginalized communities bearing some of the greatest environmental burdens. Dunn introduces the variety of groups working toward climate justice, including grassroots activists organizing to reduce their carbon footprint; local governments exploring resilience plans and rethinking land use and zoning; and federal legislators promoting national initiatives like the Green New Deal. He also profiles powerful counterforces working to block reform.

This book offers a sweeping look at how Southerners are reckoning with both a rapidly changing climate and the social and racial legacies that make its impacts so severe. It shows why the South stands at a decisive turning point—and why its choices about justice, adaptation, and resilience will shape America’s trajectory for decades to come. Despite ongoing headwinds, Climate Crossroads affirms that community-based activism gives reason for hope.

Introduction

Chapter 1. One Hot Time in the Southland

Chapter 2. From the South a New Civil Rights Movement

Chapter 3. The Movement Grows

Chapter 4. Is Eco Justice Possible?

Chapter 5. Push Back

Chapter 6. Roots of Denial

Chapter 7. The GOP vs. Climate Action

Chapter 8. You’d Better Have a Plan

Chapter 9. Locals Lead When Those in Charge Won’t

Chapter 10. Southern Troublemakers

Chapter 11. Southern-Style Green New Deals

Chapter 12. Taking It to the Judge

Chapter 13. The Point of No Return?

Notes

Sources

Index