Negative Ecologies: Fossil Fuels and the Discovery of the Environment

by David Bond

So much of what we know of clean water, clean air, and now a stable climate rests on how fossil fuels first disrupted them. Negative Ecologies is a bold reappraisal of the outsized role fossil fuels have played in making the environment visible, factual, and politically operable in North America. Following stories of hydrocarbon harm that lay the groundwork for environmental science and policy, this book brings into clear focus the dialectic between the negative ecologies of fossil fuels and the ongoing discovery of the environment. Exploring iconic sites of the oil economy, ranging from leaky Caribbean refineries to deepwater oil spills, from the petrochemical fallout of plastics manufacturing to the extractive frontiers of Canada, Negative Ecologies documents the upheavals, injuries, and disasters that have long accompanied fossil fuels and the manner in which our solutions have often been less about confronting the cause than managing the effects. This history of our present promises to re-situate scholarly understandings of fossil fuels and renovate environmental critique today. David Bond challenges us to consider what forms of critical engagement may now be needed to both confront the deleterious properties of fossil fuels and envision ways of living beyond them.

261 pages, Hardcover

Published July 26, 2022

Reviews

[Justin Dunnavant · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book that covers the relationships between oil, fossil fuels, and the environment. The author does a great job of tying petroleum to our contemporary environmental issues and tracing them back to the origins of colonialism. He blends Caribbean theory, environmental history and contemporary reports in prose that is both easily digestible and heavily referenced. Local law, federal law, and economics are woven together to explain how we arrived at our current situation in the United States and Caribbean today. This is a highly recommended read for anybody interested in environmental history, climate change, and the ongoing legacies of colonialism.

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bonds book left me angry. But not angry in a helpless the fight is already lost way. This book outlines the environmental crisis in a digestible yet deeply effective way. It left me feeling like it was time for the world to step up and ask the real question. Probably one of my favourite reads of the last few months.

[Dimitri Bartels · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the ideas were fantastic, and I appreciated some of the insight I gained. However, there was something about the writing style that just wasn't for me.