This gathering of 16 articles, all of which originally appeared in Scientific American between 1993 and 2005, adds an inescapable political element to issues discussed in other volumes of the new Critical Anthologies on Environment and Climate series--which includes works on the oceans, pollution, and world climate. Adair links the entries with introductory comments and arranges them in four sections: international treaties and risk management, trends in U.S. domestic environmental regulation, the environmental implications of free trade, and a catchall look at current and future problems. Although the articles are available from online databases, and the illustrations and resource lists are skimpy, this still makes a useful print supplement to Thomas Easton's more systematic Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Environmental Issues (2005).
