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  • As the World Burns

  • The New Generation of Activists and the Landmark Legal Fight Against Climate Change
  • By: Lee van der Voo
  • Narrated by: Lee van der Voo
  • Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins

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As the World Burns

By: Lee van der Voo
Narrated by: Lee van der Voo
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Publisher's Summary

“The story of Juliana v. United States and the committed young people behind it will give you hope in the next generation.”—Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction

Do our children have a right to inherit a livable planet? Is the government obliged to protect it? Twenty-one young people from across America have sued the federal government over climate change, charging that actions promoting a fossil fuel economy violate their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property. Their trial could be the civil rights trial of the century, but the government has used arcane legal tactics to stymie its progress at every turn.

As the World Burns by investigative reporter Lee van der Voo follows the plight of the young plaintiffs, chronicling their legal battle as their childhoods are consumed by another year of drought and wildfire, floods and hurricanes, and the most tumultuous political season in modern history. As the World Burns is climate breakdown like you’ve never seen it—through the eyes of the young.

©2020 Lee van der Voo (P)2022 Timber Press

Critic Reviews

“The question of climate change is a simple one: Will our young people be allowed a future? This book details the struggles of young activists as they battle in the courts for the most basic right of all—the right to survive.”—Mark Lynas, author of Our Final Warning: Six Degrees of Climate Emergency

“A deeply human account of an extraordinary group of young people, a cast of characters whose courage, anguish, and idealism guide them through battle against entrenched power and a broken political system. Gripping, essential reading.”—Beth Gardiner, author of Choked: Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution

“A well-paced, conversational narrative…a comprehensive look at the motivating factors that caused young adults to sue the government for a better future.”—Kirkus

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.