A review by mhwriter2024
The Parrot and the Igloo: Climate and the Science of Denial by David Lipsky

3.0

There is much to respect (and to be challenged by) in this book: it is fully researched, Mr. Lipsky is a vivid writer and it is a comprehensive look at where the science and the junk science of climate change-denialism collides with very real and progressive initiatives. The book opens with scientists as diverse as Ben Franklin, Nikola Tesla and others. The most fascinating parts show how the pro-smoking and tobacco lobby of a few decades morphed into the climate change-skeptics of recent times, often using the same PR agencies, 'experts' and the same overlapping pseudo-scientists and craven government officials. The downsides: the book is abundant with analogies and metaphors (too abundant); the book does not resist tangents, although the chapters are shorter and plentiful. There are sentences that pop-up and poke from the book: "Linus Pauling is the spirit at the end of the CVS aisle, the phantom grinning..." If this were a movie, the blurbs on the film previews would be "Epic" in scope and "Sprawling" but this is not always positive. Like a Christoper Nolan movie (Inception, Tenet), you might be confused about what you have just seen. There were times when I wished the book were maybe 75-100 pages shorter. If you never expected to encounter Tesla, Lord Christopher Monckton (the Marty Feldman of climate deniers), the Rev. Sun Myung-Moon and Bill Cosby all in the same book, they are all here though.

I live near the (NJ) Shore, including Superstorm Sandy. As much as I love the Ocean, I wanted to learn more about the science. I did pick it up and put it down several times over many weeks. sometimes in exasperation. (Rating: 3.1-3.5/5.0 stars).