Synopses & Reviews
Maverick environmental writers William J. Kelly and Chip Jacobs follow up their acclaimed
Smogtown with a provocative examination of Chinas ecological calamity already imperiling a warming planet. Toxic smog most people figured was obsolete needlessly kills as many as died in the 9/11 attacks every day, while sometimes Grand Canyon-sized drifts of industrial particles aloft on the winds rain down ozone and waterway-poisoning mercury in America.
In vivid, gonzo prose blending first-person reportage with exhaustive research and a sense of karma, Kelly and Jacobs describe Chinas ancient love affair with coal, Bill Clintons blunders cutting free-trade deals enabling the U.S. to "export" manufacturing emissions to Asia in a shift that pilloried the West's middle class, Communist Party manipulation of eco-statistics, the horror of cancer villages, the deception of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and spellbinding peasant revolts against cancer-spreading plants involving thousands in mostly-censored melées. Ending with Chinas monumental coal-bases decried by climatologists as a global warming dagger, The People's Republic of Chemicals names names and emphasizes humanity over bloodless statistics in a classic sure to ruffle feathers as an indictment of money as the real green that not even Al Gore can deny.
Review
"This book is a well-rounded portrait of Chinas current environmental crisis and how it stretches far beyond its geographic borders." Foreword
"The prose is sharp, vivid, and direct, leading readers through hard-hitting chapters about the Beijing Olympics, Americas Walmart, made-in-China addiction, and the casual way in which ecostatistics are manipulated." Booklist
Review
* FOREWORD REVIEWS (5 hearts): The rapid industrialization of the worlds most populous nation has far-reaching effects for the worlds environment and economy, and in
The Peoples Republic of Chemicals, journalists William J. Kelly and Chip Jacobs detail how extreme Chinas pollution problem has become. The authors do a nice job of mixing firsthand journalism with history and using a reporting style that thoroughly explains an important but potentially wonkish in a way that should make it accessible and interesting to a large audience. Kelly and Jacobs trace Chinas current situation back centuries, from the EastWest connections formed during Marco Polos journeys there, through the growth of Chinas coal industry, up through the export-driven economy that has grown in recent decadesand the constant increase in new factories to feed that demand. While industrialization has exploded, it has also created a series of crises in public health, with millions of Chinese adults dying prematurely due to air pollutants
(They) help tell this story by introducing readers to people directly impacted, from villagers dying from illness to activists trying to get accurate information about Chinas smog to citizens.
Kelly and Jacobs dont skimp on either the hard science or the policy analysis. They detail how the smog got so bad, using previous smog disasters in California and Japan for context
Similarly, the pair do an outstanding job of showing the causes and effects of the interdependency between American consumers and Chinese manufacturers. The result is a well-rounded portrait
”
* BOOKLIST (starred review) : The Smogtown (2008) authors return with a look at Chinas air pollution problem, and it is a doozy. Combining a crash-course history lesson that includes everyone from Confucius to Chairman Mao with a withering rant about the countrys nonexistent environmental policies, Kelly and Jacobs give readers everything they need to know about why China is ground zero for the planets future, including its coal bases serving as global warming daggers.” There is a lot to take in here, and the narratives power is as much due to its style as substance. The prose is sharp, vivid, and direct, leading readers through hard-hitting chapters about the Beijing Olympics, Americas Walmart, made-in-China addiction, and the casual way in which eco-statistics are manipulated. Kelly and Jacobs pillory the actions of as many American politicians as Chinese, noting policy missteps and political weakness with a take-no-prisoners attitude that readers will find refreshingly candid. While the tone can sometimes seem a bit glib, its bracing nature will likely be a tonic to those seeking a straightforward take on this urgent subject while also making for a surprisingly enjoyable read.” Colleen Mondor
* KIRKUS A scathing denunciation of how America outsourced its industrial capacity to China, a package that included catastrophic pollution. Investigative journalists Kelly and Jacobs again team up in a hard-hitting follow-up to their 2008 environmental page-turner Smogtown: The Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles. As self-deputized gumshoes” covering the environmental beat, the authors felt they could not ignore the ugly reality in China. As the air in LA improved, in China, a nauseating, gray-brown cloud from an oversaturated sky” was darkening the landscape.
Chinas adoption of an open-door policy for American manufacturers was a devils bargain. The authors have harsh words for the Clinton-Gore pairing,” which allowed American industry to get out from under environmental regulation and benefit from cheap Chinese labor
A powerful warning that a growing cloud of toxins aloft [are] swirling in the winds around the world and recirculating the pollution we hoped to shed.”
* ASIAN BOOK REVIEW The authors message is to remind us that were in serious trouble and that the situation is getting worse. Chinas many announcements about increased environmental protection and its impressive accomplishments in installing solar and wind power should not obscure the reality that the environmental situation continues to deteriorate. An obsession with growth continues to triumph over the environment. We may look back and see that the severe air pollution in Beijing in recent winters, which on bad days has been like breathing the air in a forest fire, marked a turning point. For now, Kelly and Jacobs are understandably sceptical that environmental progress in China is for real.”
* CHINADIALOGUE.NET Authors William J. Kelly and Chip Jacobs joined forces once before
to write their climate classic, Smogtown: the Lung Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles, a remarkable 2008 exposé and memoir about air quality, politics and health in Southern Californias smog belt. This time, the duo
(goes) farther afield to investigate air pollution that threatens to put a chokehold on the Pacific Rim
The writers do know their stuff. Kelly and Jacobs delve behind the headlines and grim statistics of coal emissions and cancer village mortality to focus on the latest struggles to prevent thousands of needless deaths per day from Chinas poisoned environment. The authors insist that this dismayingly high death toll
could have been avoided. They argue that these deaths should be counted as casualties of Chinas overly rapid economic revival. And the multinational corporations who have outsourced manufacturing jobs on such a vast scale must be considered complicit
A nation breathes its choices,” the authors warn, while admitting that when it involves the Peoples Republic and coal, its more than complicated. Its ancient.”
(V)ivid imagery, highlights quirky personalities and hidden motives in the unfolding saga of climate change. Politics loom large. The book is simultaneously entertaining and alarming, and doesnt spare officials from criticism
In post-W.T.O. China, something biologically creepy was only a factory pipe away,” the authors observe. They
urge President Xi Jinping to make eco-restoration as much his legacy as ridding the party of the endemic graft.”
* PASADENA WEEKLY More than a biting critique of Chinas economic choices, which have led to the countrys current environmental crises, the book is also call to the Chinese government to curb its pollution and do the right thing, not only for itself, but the rest of the planet
Cancer villages, peasant uprisings, corruption at every level of society and tales of human struggle are interwoven with a gripping narrative. This truly impressive treatise of investigative reporting is a searing indictment of humanitys disregard for itself. Every page leaves readers shaking their heads in disbelief, with every fact and figure illuminated by ornate prose and evocative passages. Through advocacy journalism, environmental activism, smog analysis, case studies and human stories, the book provides historical context that is absolutely critical to understanding why the Chinese so unashamedly abandoned their health in exchange for American currency.”
* LIT/RANT (A) well-sourced jeremiad about the state of Chinas environmental problems. The number of Chinese succumbing annually to preventalbe smog deaths effectively matched the number of people killed in the U.S. on 9/11 every day of the year,” write William J. Kelly and Chip Jacobs. And, of course, this situation will affect the rest of us. As Chinas economy continues to grow at the expense of environmental protections, the authors note, the butterfly effect is threatening to feel Pterodactyl.”
While some readers may be put off by the extremely judgmental language Kelly and Jacobs use, others will find it as merely one more indicator of just how frightening the lack of environmental standards for industrial pollution are in Chinas race to the top of the economic heap.
(a) jeremiad worthy of a prophet.”
CHINA URBAN DEVELOPMENT BLOG An excellent starting point in understanding how Chinas pollution problem got so out of hand in the first place and what can be done to stop it (or at least slow it down).
**The Peoples Republic of Chemicals among Foreword Reviews' best climate-change-solution books**
**The Peoples Republic of Chemicals earns Gold and Silver at the Green Book Festival**
**The Peoples Republic of Chemicals named IndieFab Book of the Year Award Finalist**
**The Peoples Republic of Chemicals takes silver at the Pacific Rim Book Festival and medals at the Los Angeles Book Festival**
**Booklist names The Peoples Republic of Chemicals one of top 10 best books on sustainability
Synopsis
Investigative journalist Chip Jacobs and air pollution expert William J. Kelly follow up their successful
Smogtown with this deep look at the smog crisis in China. Based on extensive interviews and years of research, Jacobs and Kelly once again expose the complacency that often accompanies the smoggiest cities. At once a look at how those shocking photos weve all seen actually come to be and an indictment of slow-acting and seemingly uncaring governments that allow air pollution to get so far out of hand,
The People's Republic of Chemicals is sure to ruffle some feathers and help bring about long overdue change.
About the Author
William J. Kelly is the co-author
Smogtown: the Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles and the author of
Home Safe Home. His reporting has appeared in the
Los Angeles Times, Consumers Digest, Inside Climate News, L.A. Weekly, and the
California Journal, among other outlets. He was chief spokesman for South Coast Air Quality Management District, the smog control agency for greater Los Angeles, and is currently the senior correspondent for the
California Current. Kelly, the recipient of numerous writing awards, lives in the Los Angeles area.
Chip Jacobs is the author of five other books: Strange As It Seems: the Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler; The Vicodin Thieves: Biopysing L.A.'s Grifters, Gloryhounds and Goliaths; The Ascension of Jerry: Murder, Hitmen and the Making of L.A. Muckraker Jerry Schneiderman; Smogtown: the Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles (with William J. Kelly); and the privately issued Black Wednesday Boys. Jacobs' reporting has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, CNN, Bloomberg View, the Daily News of Los AngelesLA Weekly, among other outlets. Jacobs, the recipient of numerous writing commendations, lives in Southern California. Visit chipjacobs.com to learn more.