American Heat: Ethical Problems with the United States' Response to Global Warming (Studies in Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy) [Paperback]

Donald A. Brown (Author), Tim Weiskel (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2002 | ISBN-10: 0742512967 | ISBN-13: 978-0742512962

When the world began to wake up to the global environmental crisis in the 1970s, the United States was the undisputed world leader in environmental policy. Yet, on an unsettling number of international environmental issues--including global warming--the U.S. has not only forfeited its leadership role but has too often become the major barrier to protecting the global environment. In American Heat, Donald Brown critically analyzes the U.S. response to global warming, inviting readers to examine the implicit morality of the U.S position, and ultimately to help lead the world toward an equitable sharing of the burdens and benefits of protecting the global environment. In short, Brown argues that an ethical focus on global environmental matters is the key to achieving a globally acceptable solution.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Drawing on his own deeply American conscience, Don Brown has put America's indifference to the climate crisis into its most essential context--human ethics. As American Heat illustrates, our response to global warming is corroding our most cherished values. With so much of the debate focused on science and economics, Brown forces us to confront what we are doing to our poor neighbors around the world, to our species at home and, ultimately, to our own children. (Ross Gelbspan )

I found American Heat an excellent read. Don Brown examines ethical issues embedded in policymaking and science as they relate to the failure of the United States to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Readers of American Heat will understand how, when it comes to the issue of global warming, ethics is often a silent but potent driver of political and scientific voices. (Wells, Edward )

Donald Brown is uniquely placed to make and defend the arguments in American Heat, the first book of its kind to clearly and convincingly connect the questions surrounding climate change with their ethical consequences. (Westra, Laura )

In American Heat, Donald Brown shines a harsh light on one of the tawdriest chapters in recent American policy: our unwillingness to own up to our obvious obligation to help in the process of repairing the climate we have done so much to damage. If our leaders are capable of shame, this book should do the trick. (McKibben, Bill )

The criticisms in American Heat flow from the intellectual tour de force of Brown's analysis and his deep belief that Americans will help lead the world to combating global warming fairly and justly once they understand how ethically troubling our current stance actually is. This book is a must read. (Lemons, John )

A convincing case, made by a gutsy insider, that the history of the U.S. response to global warming is ethically intolerable. American Heat is informative, provocative, and passionately argued. It deserves widespread public attention and discussion. (William Aiken )

About the Author

Donald A. Brown is director of the Pennsylvania Consortium for Interdisciplinary Environmental Policy and former program manager for United Nations Organizations at the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of International Environmental Policy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (June 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0742512967
• ISBN-13: 978-0742512962
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,893,115 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.