Against the Grain

The Environmentalism of the Fossil Fuel Industry

Fossil fuels lie at the center of contemporary life — powering, despoiling, and altering everything around us. And that includes environmentalism itself, according to anthropologist David Bond. He discusses how concepts like toxic thresholds and environmental impact assessments are an accommodation to the continued existence of the oil and petro-chemical industries, rather than ways to address their inherent harms.

Resources:

David Bond, Negative Ecologies: Fossil Fuels and the Discovery of the Environment UC Press, 2022