A review by nitroh15
Eyes Wide Open: Going Behind the Environmental Headlines by Paul Fleischman

5.0

I read this book as part of a school project in my AP Chemistry class. Initially, I expected it to be another boring book about the need to save the environment, which everyone knows. Of course we realize that global warming and CO2 levels are rising alarmingly, but this novel alerted me to a part of the industry I had never known about. Fleischman effectively describes the numerous factors in our society contributing to climate change, especially the existence of vested interests. Yet Fleischman doesn't stop there. He explains factors such as normalcy bias, which isn't a common term for all of us who aren't taking AP Psychology, and how they play a key role in our decisions we make every day. Why aren't we doing more to stop climate change? Because we don't see the changes it's impacting on our lives – nothing's changed for us. Unfortunately, it's not something you can see and avoid, which has led to a positive feedback loop in which we exacerbate the problem. Additionally, he relates vested interests to the fossil fuel industry, who has donated money to all the right places and created doubt about climate change in hopes of extending their bottom line. Yet Fleischman does not merely create an interesting novel through his subject matter, but through the way in which he writes the novel. It's written with everyday language that a teenager or adult could easily comprehend. He doesn't use specific jargon or slang that only scientists would understand, but uses common words to appeal to a larger audience in hopes of getting his idea across. And finally, Fleischman introduces the idea of reading critically. As a high school student, I'm used to hearing those words. But Flesichman helps elucidate the idea even more clearly by providing a context in which to do so. When reading about climate change, it is important to think about the source of the news you're reading. To think about the vested interests and biases that may influence the writing. And to pick and choose news articles with together can combine to create the full story, rather than reading one and getting merely a piece. Overall, this book was very enjoyable as it made me aware of many influences politically on the persistence of climate change.