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Environmental Justice Summer Reading List

In the wake of recent events, Urban Green Lab would like to remind our supporters that understanding environmental justice and its history is an integral step in learning how we all can live more just, equitable, and sustainable lives.

Racial justice is environmental justice.

The UGL team has put together this list of titles focusing on environmental and climate justice that we believe are informative and impactful. Check out Nashville Public Library for information on how to borrow these titles or considering supporting a local bookstore like Parnassus Books or The Bookshop, which are now offering book delivery.

A Terrible Thing To Waste by Harriet A. Washington

A “powerful and indispensable” look at the devastating consequences of environmental racism (Gerald Markowitz) — and what we can do to remedy its toxic effects on marginalized communities.

Get it now: Nashville Public Library | Parnassus Books | The Bookshop


Indigenous Environmental Justice by Karen Jarratt-Snider & Marianne O. Nielsen

This volume clearly distinguishes Indigenous environmental justice from the broader idea of environmental justice while offering detailed examples from recent history of environmental injustices that have occurred in Indian Country.

Get it now: Parnassus Books | The Bookshop


Climate Change from the Streets by Micheal Mendez

An urgent and timely story of the contentious politics of incorporating environmental justice into global climate change policy.

Get it now: Parnassus Books | The Bookshop


Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

First published by Houghton Mifflin in 1962, Silent Spring alerted a large audience to the environmental and human dangers of indiscriminate use of pesticides, spurring revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water.

Get it now: Nashville Public Library | Parnassus Books | The Bookshop


Dumping In Dixie by Dr. Robert Bullard

Starting with the premise that all Americans have a basic right to live in a healthy environment, this book chronicles the efforts of five African American communities, empowered by the civil rights movement, to link environmentalism with issues of social justice.

Get it now: Parnassus Books | The Bookshop


From the Ground Up by Luke W. Cole & Sheila Foster

Tracing the movement’s roots, Luke Cole and Sheila Foster combine long-time activism with powerful storytelling to provide gripping case studies of communities across the U.S and their struggles against corporate polluters. 

Get it now: Parnassus Books


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