Environmentalist Judy Rolfe shares reading list for Earth Day and beyond
In recognition of Earth Day Saturday, April 22, local environmental activist Judy Rolfe recommends a few books about conservation, sea level rise, trees, organic farming, native species planting, climate communication and hope.
“in 2006, I screened a documentary on climate change,” said Rolfe. “Left questioning, I set out to try and learn everything I possibly could about the climate crisis.” Besides reaching out to scientists, conservationists, foresters, ornithologists, environmentalists, teachers, scholars, farmers, watermen and more at both local and national levels, she devoured a variety of books on related topics.
“What I concluded is that everyone and everything is experiencing the effects of our climate crisis,” she said. Even locally, she noted these effects are evident: flooding, more frequent and destructive storms, and extreme heat forecast for this summer. “The recent tornado where I grabbed an armful of valuables and had to shelter in a lower-floor bathroom was a game-changer for me,” Rolfe said.
“My path was listening, reading, communicating and attempting to live a more intentioned life. Your path might be very different, but I encourage you to choose one. Because from what I have learned and am experiencing, doing nothing is no longer a option. These books are a way to try and make sense of things.”
“A Sand County Almanac” by Aldo Leopold is Rolfe’s all-time favorite; she calls it, “some of the finest nature writing since Thoreau. I re-read it every year.” To learn more, go to aldoleopold.org.
Next, she recommends “Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard,” by Douglas W. Tallamy. “The Climate Book” by Greta Thunberg includes contributions from more than 100 global experts in various fields, all of whom urge people to accept the science of climate change before it’s too late.
"All We Can Save” is an anthology of writings by 60 women at the forefront of the climate movement who are harnessing truth, courage and solutions to lead humanity forward. Rolfe cites “The Quiet Crisis” as an excellent book about the long-term development of climate change especially in light of U.S. history and policy. Author Stewart Udall served as secretary of the interior under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
Additional recommendations include "The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities and the Remaking of the Civilized World," by Jeff Goodell; and “Retreat from a Rising Sea: Hard Choices in an Age of Climate Change,” by Orrin Pilkey, Linda Pilkey-Jarvis and Keith C. Pilkey.
In “The Book of Hope," by Jane Goodall and Doug Abrams, the world's most famous living naturalist writes about one of the most sought-after and least understood elements of human nature: hope.
In "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle,” author Barbara Kingsolver and her family abandoned the industrial-food pipeline to live a rural life, vowing that for one year, they'd only buy food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it themselves, or learn to live without it.
Rolfe also recommends “Saving Us” by Katharine Hayhoe as essential reading, especially for those who want to do something but don’t quite know how to proceed. And author Edward O. Wilson, in his book “Half Earth,” urges people to move swiftly to preserve the biodiversity of the planet and stave off the mass extinction of species, including humans.
“Lastly, I had to get a photographer on the list,” Rolfe said, citing Edward Burtynsky’s photographic depictions of global industrial landscapes that represent his more than 40 years of bearing witness to the impact of human industry on the planet.
