November 18, 2025
2 min learn
5 Important Reads on Plastic, Energy, and Air pollution
In case you loved Beth Gardiner’s characteristic about huge oil’s guess on plastics, listed below are extra books curated by Scientific American
The fossil-fuel business is pivoting to plastics: large firms are launching new refineries and different industrial vegetation to make plastic from petrochemicals. Science journalist Beth Gardiner follows this story in our December difficulty, the place you’ll meet the communities being harmed and the businesses spending billions of {dollars} to manage the way forward for plastic.
To enrich that learn, listed below are a couple of books that you could dive into and discover the wild world of waste administration, the chemistry of plastics and extra examples of company espionage and drama.
Plastic Inc.: The Secret Historical past and Stunning Way forward for Huge Oil’s Largest Wager
by Beth Gardiner
Avery, February 2026
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Beth Gardiner’s new e book about huge oil’s guess on plastic’s future is popping out in February 2026. She discusses the historical past that led us right here and the large cash spent to persuade us to not recycle, cut back our carbon footprint or fear about single-use plastic.
They Poisoned the World: Life and Demise within the Age of Eternally Chemical compounds
by Mariah Blake
Crown, Might 2025
On this fascinating e book, investigative reporter Mariah Blake offers readers an account of the large companies which can be making an attempt to cover the risks of “ceaselessly chemical compounds” and the methods they’ve used to maintain the toxins off the general public’s radar.
Waste Wars: The Wild Afterlife of Your Trash
by Alexander Clapp
Little, Brown and Firm, February 2025
Take a wild journey across the globe as journalist Alexander Clapp exhibits you the way plastic will get smashed, melted or misplaced at sea in an try to get rubbish out of sight as quickly as potential, irrespective of the price.
Saving Us: A Local weather Scientist’s Case for Hope and Therapeutic in a Divided World
by Katharine Hayhoe
Atria/One Sign Publishers, September 2021
Atmospheric scientist Katharine Hayhoe delivers an optimistic view of our planet’s future on this e book, which local weather scientist and creator Kate Marvel applauds for its directness and optimism within the September 2021 difficulty of Scientific American.
Citizen Coke: The Making of Coca-Cola Capitalism
by Bartow J. Elmore
W. W. Norton, December 2016
In case you’re in search of a dramatic story of conspiracy and espionage, a lot extra drama unfolds on this e book by historian Bartow J. Elmore, who examines how a sure soda producer has affected the atmosphere, our wallets and our day-to-day buying selections.
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