On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal
First edition (US)
AuthorNaomi Klein
Published17 September 2019
PublisherSimon & Schuster (US)
Allen Lane (UK)
Pages320
ISBN9781982129910
Preceded byThe Battle for Paradise 
Followed byHow to change everything 

On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal is Naomi Klein's seventh book, published in September 2019 by Simon & Schuster.[1] On Fire is a collection of essays focusing on climate change and the urgent actions needed to preserve the planet.[2]

Synopsis

Klein relays her meeting with Greta Thunberg in the opening essay in which she discusses how young people are speaking out for climate awareness and change. Throughout the book, Klein discusses her support for the Green New Deal and in the final essay she notes of the 2020 U.S. election that, "The stakes of the election are almost unbearably high. It’s why I wrote the book and decided to put it out now and why I’ll be doing whatever I can to help push people toward supporting a candidate with the most ambitious Green New Deal platform—so that they win the primaries and then the general."[3][4]

Klein emphasizes the moral and practical imperatives for the Green New Deal, rather than only concentrating on the brass tacks of policy and funding.[5]

Reception

In his review for The New York Times, Jeff Goodell says that Klein's book "makes a strong case for tackling the climate crisis as not just an urgent undertaking, but an inspiring one." Despite what Goodell sees as a "hodgepodge and repetitive" structure built from previously published works, which themselves Goodel identifies as "dated," with only "perfunctory...updates" attached.[5]

Writing for The New York Review of Books, Eric Klinenberg describes On Fire as the "coda" to Klein's previous book, This Changes Everything, adding the policy suggestions missing from her previous book. Though Klinenberg notes that "On Fire is nowhere near as ambitious as Klein's other books," he adds that "Klein is a talented polemicist, and On Fire is a powerful manifesto." Despite what Klinenberg sees as the book's lack of deep reporting, the fact that "it's repetitive and unfairly dismissive of some genuinely difficult scientific and political questions," and lack of "coherent strategy for overcoming partisan opposition," Klinenberg concludes his review by noting that it may be the book necessary for the historical moment of 2020: "If ever there were an opportunity to advocate for new social and economic models, this is it."[6]

Steve Leigh's review in Against the Current offers a critique from his perspective as a socialist. Leigh credits Klein as being "an excellent writer [who] as usual makes a solid case for radical transformation of the energy system," to which he adds his criticism: "Yet this is exactly what’s frustrating about Klein’s writing on this topic. Her prescriptions don’t meet her analysis." In Leigh's view, "To end the threat of global ecocide, we need to eliminate private and bureaucratic ownership, not just regulate it," which leads him to his conclusion that the book "is a useful analysis of the problem, even if its prescriptions fall short."[7]

References

  1. ↑ Klein, Naomi (September 17, 2019). On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal. Simon & Schuster. p. 320. ISBN 978-1-9821-2991-0.
  2. ↑ Soloviy, Vitaliy (2019-10-02). "How much more fire can we stand? asks Naomi Klein". Sustainability Times. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
  3. ↑ Feeley, Lynne (10 September 2019). "Naomi Klein Knows a Green New Deal Is Our Only Hope Against Climate Catastrophe". The Nation. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  4. ↑ Doctorow, Cory (19 September 2019). "Review: Naomi Klein's 'On Fire' urges us to quit hitting the snooze button on climate change". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  5. 1 2 Goodell, Jeff (17 September 2019). "Is the Green New Deal Realistic? Two Sympathetic Authors Weigh In". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  6. ↑ Klinenberg, Eric (23 April 2020). "The Great Green Hope". The New York Review of Books. No. LXVII Vol. 7. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  7. ↑ Leigh, Steve (Mar–Apr 2020). "Burning Questions of Our Planet". Against the Current. 35 (1): 34, 37.
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